


Found Worthy

by FiveStillAlive



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alpha Loki, Alpha/Omega, Denial, Filthy fantasy while masturbating, Knotting, M/M, Masturbation, Possible Slow burn, Sibling Incest, look idk I'm making this up as I go mostly, references to rape, they live in a society that has no expectation of monogamy, threats of corrective rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:41:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 40,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24560224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiveStillAlive/pseuds/FiveStillAlive
Summary: Thor knows what destiny has in store for him. The norns will find him worthy and make him an alpha. His father will make him king. His grand heroics will be praised by all!Things are definitely going exactly according to plan.
Relationships: Loki/Thor, Loki/Thor (Marvel)
Comments: 990
Kudos: 523





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started this as a twitter thread fic, but now’s not the time to continue that, and it was getting too long anyway! The first seven chapters are completed; I’ll be moving them here over the next few days, then continuing on. So, this is a work in progress! I’ve been in writer’s block for like a year and a half, and out of it for like... a week and a half! I intend to finish this, I FEEL like I can finish this, but I’ve been so painfully wrong before! What I’m saying here is read at your own risk. 😬

“So,” It was a brief lull in conversation, around their royal dinner table, when Loki made his inevitable poison-tipped strike. “Big day tomorrow, brother?”

But Thor grinned, unfazed. He wasn’t nervous at all, no matter what Loki wanted to insinuate! “Not so big, no!”

Loki seemed amused. “Oh? Putting it off a little longer, are you?”

That was too much for Father, who put his mug down like a gavel. His eyes, always weighing his sons’ readiness for the throne, hit Thor. “Are you?”

But that was a weight Thor was long used to, and he simply laughed at his little joke getting such a reaction. “Of course not! I meant that tomorrow is not a big day because I am certain the norns will find me worthy!”

And he was certain! Of course he was.

Father nodded, firmly. “Good. As it should be. One hundred is the proper age for a young man, ready to truly take his place.”

Thor beamed at the implication, though he knew Father didn’t mean the throne, not yet. Not for centuries more. Still, he was ready to take his place!

Of course he was.

Tomorrow was his one hundredth birthday. The traditional, typical age at which a warrior of Asgard would go to the temple of the norns and submit themselves for judgement. The norns would examine the strength of their heart, and the path fate would lead them down.

And, if they were judged worthy, they would be granted a secondary, reproductive gender.

Alpha, for one whose strength was needed for this generation and the next, whose heroic deeds would keep them too busy to bear and raise the children they must sire. Alphas, the rarest, were destined for great things.

Or omega, for one whose strength was needed most for raising the next generation of warriors. Everyone assured new omegas that their deeds were no less heroic, their bearing of children just as strong... but no one sang epic tales of heroic child-rearing.

Or, even more common than omegas, the norns might leave one barren.

Many warriors were relieved to be found so. It freed them of the responsibilities of children, let them bed partners without a care, and usually meant fate could not have anything too exciting in store for them.

But, for a young warrior with ambition, such a result was nearly a kiss of death. There were barren warriors among the top generals and advisers of the court... but few. No one said so officially, but... how much responsibility could you trust to someone with no clear fate?

As Father had said, one hundred was the proper age. There was, technically, no age at which one was too old to submit to the norns’ judgement, but anything past 150 or so began to look like cowardice. One could only avoid fate for so long.

But what Father had said had also been a barb aimed at Loki, Thor knew. Because while one hundred was seen as the proper age, one could go as early as eighty.

And Loki had.

Without telling any of them, he had presented himself to the norns as soon as he was able, creating scandal and gossip in his wake.

At eighty, legally recognized as an adult, no one could stop him. But in modern times it was expected for young warriors to take a few more decades to fully mature. To enjoy the freedoms of adulthood, to be better prepared to accept the responsibilities.

Loki had not even waited until after his birthday ceremony. By the time he was declared an adult son of Asgard, at that night’s feast, the news had spread, and everyone knew the young prince might already have something new stirring and waking with him.

Loki always said he had done it to strengthen his magic.

Thor suspected Loki had wanted to, just once, beat his older brother to something.

And he certainly had. Over the next few weeks, following his birthday, Loki had bloomed into what was undeniably an alpha.

He never overtly held this over Thor. As he shouldn’t! There was nothing to be proud of, rushing in stupidly early, always doing everything the strange way, never doing what he should!

But, sometimes, he gave Thor a little, knowing smirk. And Thor felt, absurdly, as if his younger brother had reached a different plane of maturity. As if he, Thor, was no more than a child in comparison. Loki knew what happened in the temple. Loki knew of reproductive urges.

And, most mysterious, most enticing, Loki knew how it felt to be an Alpha.

Sitting at their dining table, Thor was finally able to return Loki’s knowing smirk with a smug smile of his own. Tomorrow, he would go to the norns, and be found worthy. Tomorrow, at the right time, Loki would have no more mystery to lord over him.

Tomorrow, he would be an alpha as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	2. Chapter 2

He couldn’t sleep that night.

He wasn’t nervous, of course! He knew what would happen! As far back as he could remember, he’d always known what would happen, so no surprises there. It was just…

Now it was happening. Now it was tomorrow.

Tomorrow he would go before the norns, and they would find him worthy. And the changes would begin. Over the next few weeks he would become... different.

How different?

He’d still be himself. Wouldn’t he? He’d seen older friends go through these changes, over the years, and they were all still themselves. Except perhaps a little more confident. More mature. The alphas were, anyway.

It was often compared to puberty. A smaller, faster, second puberty. You didn’t come out of puberty exactly the same person you were going in, but you weren’t supposed to. It was part of growing up. Sometimes it got a bit messy but, well, that was part of growing up too.

How many people would submit to puberty if they had a choice? How many would eventually, but only after putting it off years or decades?

He thought about Loki.

His brother was less than a year younger than him, but still, they’d always known that Thor was the older brother, and Loki the younger. It was silly, maybe, but he’d always said Loki was his “little baby brother”. Mostly to tease him, but... yes, he did like being the oldest.

And he’d always felt like he was the older brother in more than just the count of ten and a half insignificant months. He’d felt he was the mature one, responsible, in charge!

Until Loki had gone to the temple, and leapt over him into alphahood.

It had changed things between them. They were still brothers, but...

In the dark of the night, in the quiet of his head, venturing unusually deep into his own thoughts, Thor could admit it to himself. He was intimidated by Loki. In awe of him.

Loki had become this mysterious creature that Thor, for twenty years, could only hope to be. And Loki had done it early! So recklessly, deviantly early! And Thor had known, uncomfortably, that if he wanted to, he could do the same.

Responsible warriors, warriors who were to be looked up to, didn’t go early. Someone who intended to be king of Asgard didn’t disregard their customs, and go early! It was healthy to wait, to mature a couple more decades, before going! There was no going back!

But sometimes, when he watched Loki, and felt admiration-wonder-fear churn in his belly, he wondered if he was just being a coward, to wait for the normal time.

It didn’t matter now. Tomorrow he would be an alpha. Just like Loki was an alpha.

He thought back over every change he’d seen in his brother, and tried to imagine how it would feel.

He’d seen Loki’s eyes focus on omegas with an intense sexual hunger, something sharper and more urgent than the sexual urges barren people felt. The thought made Thor’s heart race, as he imagined the heat of it.

Norns. It was hard to imagine his brother, always covered neck to knuckles, giving in to the breeding passion of alpha/omega couplings, but Thor supposed he must have. Must have taken omegas to his bed, or their own, or-

Alphas were expected to breed freely and often, of course. That was why the norns had made them as they were. Sex came with no strings for alphas. Their duty was to pass their seed to as much of the next generation as possible. Loki must have coupled with omegas all over.

And he’d be good at it, of course. Being good at everything didn’t come naturally to Loki, like it did to Thor, but he never let that stop him from mastery.

Loki wasn’t the type omegas would swoon over, watching sparring matches, but Thor had no doubt there were dozens of omegas who would seek him out for breeding and for pleasure, their dark, even guilty, secret.

He could imagine Loki sweeping them into some private room. Pressing up close behind them. His smooth voice and silver tongue whispering sweet, filthy words in their ear, complimenting how wet and ready they were for him, before he-

Thor cut the thought off, with a shuddering breath. His cock was hard. Well. Yes. Soon he- He’d be the one soothing eager omega heats. He’d have to try not to take too many of his brother’s favorites! Jealousy had always been a bit of an issue between them!

Though, in this, they might not be in competition, he thought. Loki seemed like he might... fulfill unusual omega tastes. He might do all kinds of kinky, deviant things, which of course Thor wouldn’t...

He realized he was stroking his cock, and pushed such thoughts hastily away.

Yes. No. Best he get himself off to a nice, normal fantasy, then get to sleep. Tomorrow was after all, as Loki had said, a big day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I’m adding these chapters pretty quickly, but so far I’m just moving over what I’ve already written and posted on twitter! Once I get these first seven chapters up, new chapters will be... every 1-3 days? Ish? This started out on twitter because it’s a fic I’m very much plowing headlong into, writing as I go, with only hazy ideas of what’s ahead! I’ve been in writer’s block too long NOT to, so... it will be somewhat less polished and thought over and edited and rewritten rewritten rewritten, than, say, my Trickster series.
> 
> For some reason my brain views things posted on twitter/tumblr as “casual” writing, doesn’t matter if it crashes, but things posted on AO3 as my “real” writing. I’m going to try not to psych myself out on that point, and just keep plowing lightly forward with this fic! 😬 Aaahhhhh

Wind swirled around him. Pellets of rain and ice battered against him.

He knew this was a vision, a test, granted by the norns after he had entered their temple. But the knowledge didn’t make it any less real.

Thor did not like being in a storm he couldn’t control.

“WHERE ARE YOU?” He roared the words over the deafening wind, trying to see anything at all. “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?” What kind of test was this? He could wander through the discomfort of a storm for ages.

What if he had already failed? What if the norns had read his heart and found him wanting, and had left him to wander while they did whatever was needed to leave him barren? “I AM THOR, SON OF ODIN! I COME TO CLAIM MY DESTINY!”

At his words, the wind shrieked, and nearly knocked him off his feet. The downpour got impossibly thicker.

Perhaps this was the test! Baring his teeth in a feral grin at the challenge, he pushed blindly forward! “I AM THOR! SON OF ODIN! I COME TO TAKE MY PLACE!”

The wind screamed again, and this time did take him off his feet, spinning and turning, battering against the ground without being able to catch hold. He scrabbled for a grip, and briefly missed his hammer, but didn’t let himself dwell on what wasn’t there.

He finally managed to steady himself, but had to stay crouched low over the frozen ground. “I AM THOR-“

“Thor!”

He jerked his head around, not certain he had heard what he heard, the word faint in the wind.

“THOR! THOR! THOR!”

He laughed, triumphant, though his own voice was ripped away by the wind. He certainly heard that! A crowd, cheering his name!

“THOR! THOR!”

Grinning in triumph, he began to make his way toward the sound, pulling himself across the ground.

“THOR! THOR! THOR!”

“Thor!”

Another voice! Thor’s head whipped to the side, and he could almost- Yes! He could see it! The faint outline of a tavern, lit bright and warm inside! Laughter and friendly conversation poured out of it. It radiated invitation, and relief from his troubles.

Thor laughed, shook his head, and continued on in the direction of the cheering crowd. The simple pleasures in life were wonderful things, but he, future king of Asgard, wanted more! He grunted with the effort, and dragged himself though the howling storm.

“THOR! THOR!”

“Thor?”

The voice was soft, right in his ear, and made him jump so badly he lost his grip on the ground, and went tumbling again, another helpless piece of storm debris.

Had that been LOKI? What was Loki doing here!?

Outrage focused him, and he managed to catch his grip on the ground again. “Loki! Show yourself, trickster!”

All he had wanted, all he had wanted for twenty years, was to make up the distance Loki had gained over him! Now Loki would interfere, even in the temple of the norns?

Was he so jealous, so insecure, that he could not bear to lose the one advantage he had over Thor?

His brother, his alpha brother, was here somewhere, as he always, inevitably was!

Thor ignored the chant of the adoring crowd, finally managed to rise to his feet, and turned to find his brother in the storm. Alpha! Soon he would see that was no advantage against him! Not anymore! Perhaps this was the test? He must best an alpha who intimidated him! “Loki!”

The shouting of his name grew louder. Different from each direction. Terrified screams, accolades, pleas for help, cries of ecstasy, deafening! But Thor kept his focus, ready for his opponent, ready to show no fear, to show he was more than a match for his alpha brother! “Loki!”

The storm reached a screaming, blinding peak, surely sweeping Thor off the ground. No sound of his name, no sight of Loki or taverns, or even the feel of ground under his feet. Thor roared directionless defiance into this storm that wasn’t his-

Then he was on the ground.

He was in the quiet, calm temple. His clothes and hair were dry and clean, as orderly as ever.

He... had completed the test. Hadn’t he? He must have!

The altar before him burst into abrupt flame, and Thor laughed in relief, confidence rushing back. He knew this part, at least!

As he’d been taught, he took the torch that had been prepared for him, and lit it at the norm’s fire. Then, he emerged from the temple, and held it over his head, to light from friends and family.

He added his torch to the large bonfire before the temple, signaling that he was ready to give himself to the future of their people, in whatever way the norns had seen fit.

The applause were light and friendly. This was no great feat, after all, merely a coming of age ceremony everyone went through. But as Thor descended the steps to rejoin his family, he felt exhilarated!

“Congratulations, brother.” Loki said, with a soft smile. Loki, who, of course, had not actually been in his test from the norns. Thor wrapped a cheerful arm around him, feeling strangely grateful. The vision of Loki had given him strength to stand, in that terrible storm!

And now that Thor was an alpha too, things would go back to normal between them. No, better than normal! Loki had gone to the temple early to get an advantage over Thor, who was always besting him, and now he had lost that advantage.

But, Thor resolved, he wouldn’t let it become a point of bitterness between them. He would make certain Loki knew he was no less loved or valued, just because he was second! He led his startled brother back toward the palace. They had a feast to get to!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thor, you smug, insufferable bastard!
> 
> —————
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight delay; this chapter was fucking clunky, and needed a bit of rewriting. Didn’t go too much on it, but I think it flows a bit better?
> 
> WARNING: brief mention of past rape, though they don’t really recognize it as such.

The tavern was crowded and loud, and the best place to be after a long day cleaning up the mountain giants that had menaced the South farmland. Their band of warriors had returned from their heroics, had energy left to celebrate, and so celebrate they did!

Thor’s cheer at an arm wrestling match was interrupted by Fandral, dropping dejectedly onto the bench beside him, with his usual dramatic flair. “Alas, another fair partner, already claimed for the night!” He looked forlorn. “What about you, Thor? Has your knot come in yet?”

Thor laughed. “It’s been two days!” Far too early! “But when has the lack of a knot stopped me?” He scooped an arm around Fandral’s waist and pulled him close, and marveled once again at how quickly omegas were up and about after giving birth.

Fandral had even been able to go out with them today, for the first time in... six months? Eight? Omegas weren’t to go anywhere too dangerous, of course, even when they weren’t heavily pregnant, but a simple little giant hunt was considered healthy exercise!

“Never!” Fandral agreed, laughing. “But I’ll hit heat soon, if I don’t do something to head it off, and, well... do you think you’ll have a knot by tomorrow?”

Thor snorted, and gave him a playful shove. “I thought you liked your heats. I seem to recall a few dirty ly-“

“Oh, shut up.” Fandral gave him a shove, laughing at the memory of his drunken odes to heat. “I like my heats plenty... when Volstagg’s in town.”

“Right.” Thor grimaced sympathy. Volstagg and Fandral weren’t exactly partnered, but... Fandral had an awful lot of redheaded children running about his home.

“Well, I’ll keep you updated.” He thought for a moment. There were only so many alphas in their social circle... “Did you try Loki?” He tried not to think of which of their omega friends Loki might have fucked, much less bred, but with Volstagg out of town…

Fandral laughed. “I tried, but-“

“CHEATER!” The roar caught Thor’s attention even across the noisy tavern - he always kept track of where his troublesome brother had wandered.

“... he was a bit busy.”

They both jumped up, and Thor pushed through the crowd, Fandral close behind. The omega was always eager for a bit of excitement when he was between pregnancies.

He could hear Loki before he could see him. “-without the slightest proof, just because chance is against you! That’s hardly-“

Thor broke through the crowd just in time for the man who seemed to be Loki’s accuser to lunge for him. Just in time for Loki to nimbly dodge out of the way.

Just in time for Loki’s nimble dodge to be blocked by Thor’s arrival.

Loki made a startled noise. “Thor! You oaf, get-“

The unlucky gambler did not seem to be put off by this new component, and instead plowed straight into both of them, nearly knocking them off their feet. Thor grabbed him by the collar, and prepared to knock some sense into him-

“Enough!”

Thor’s head jerked up at the voice, and he scowled, seeing it had been no trick of his ears. Amora!

The temptress sat there, unmoved, looking somehow elegant, even in this loud tavern, at a table scattered with half empty glasses and too many cards.

She rose to her feet, unhurried. “I won’t have you damaging my omega, Thor. Not unless you’re offering to replace him.” Her eyes swept over him, measuring.

He scowled, back stiffening at the implication. The memory. “I’m not omega, Amora.”

“Oh? Is that confirmed? Even so, perhaps you’d like one last night under me, hmm? You so enjoyed the last time.”

Thor growled. Amora had a thing for inexperienced young men, and he wasn’t the only one she held it over, by far.

Sex between young warriors and their mature counterparts was supposed to be an important part of growing up. An important part of building bonds between generations. Many alphas, being leaders among the warriors, made a point of divesting younger warriors of what was left of their virginity soon after they entered the warrior ranks. But far too many young men’s first experience with an alpha’s knot came when Amora unexpectedly turned on them, from gentle and seductive to forceful and brutal. Then her mocking, gentle voice. ‘What’s wrong? You said you were ready for this.’ Thor clenched his fist at the memory.

“Or perhaps you’re offering a trade?” She leaned to the side, to get a good look at Fandral, and smiled. “Hmm, pretty thing? Your big bear’s out of town, isn’t he?”

Loki, probably having anticipated the barb, and being undistracted, moved quickly enough to stop Fandral from drawing his sword. “That one’s mine, my lady. And you don’t win a prize for losing at cards.”

“But you do for cheating?” She ran her finger around the rim of her glass, as if unbothered.

“I do for winning. Come on.”

Loki left, taking Fandral with him. Thor lingered a few minutes, glaring the two down, being sure they weren’t going to follow. Then, when Amora opened her mouth again, he pointedly turned, and followed.

He caught up with Loki and Fandral outside, shaking off the bad taste Amora always left in him. Fandral seemed to be keeping especially close to Loki, perhaps wanting to make sure Loki’s claim on him for the night hadn’t just been something he said to irritate Amora. Thor felt a strange, uncomfortable squirm inside at the thought.

“She didn’t catch me!” Loki was saying, indignantly. “She was just guessing! A sore loser!”

Thor huffed laughter, falling into step with them. “But you were cheating, weren’t you, brother?”

“I was playing strategically! It’s hardly cheating to take advantage of an opponent’s weaknesses!”

“Like an inability to spot slight-of-hand? That is a weakness many of your opponents seem to have.” Fandral teased.

“Yes, yes, everyone would be so much more impressed if I took advantage of their inability to be smashed by a hammer!” Loki waved his hands, and sighed dramatically.

Thor laughed, and for a moment thought about leaving the two to their walk home, and returning to the tavern to find his own company for the night. He only had so many nights left before he was fully alpha, and he wanted to appreciate them…

But somehow, passing teasing jabs between his brother and friend, as they meandered through the quiet night, seemed far more enticing. He’d missed Fandral during his pregnancy. He wanted the closeness he’d once had with Loki back. He certainly didn’t want to go back in there with Amora. In fact, nothing in that tavern seemed to tempt him at all! Laughing, conversation circling, they walked home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: tags may change as I add chapters!

Thor woke gradually, buried under his thick, warm blankets.

Mmm. They felt good on his skin. The faint dragging contact, emphasized with every slight shift of his body. The warm, cocooned safety. The light, reassuring pressure of their weight over him.

For a while, he just pulled the blankets a bit higher, and nestled down into his pillow. Oh, he felt good... Really good... He squirmed under the blankets, nerves lighting up at the delicious drag of sensation that caused.

A small gap in the blankets opened near the small of his back, and he caught his breath and arched back, closing the gap again, at the sensation of cold air like fingers against his sensitive spine.

Oh. This must be it. His changes were beginning to show.

He was still sleep-fogged, and caught up in the sensual pleasure of fabric against his skin, but the thought made it through to him. Yes! He wasn’t barren! It was a fear he had refused to acknowledge, but which had lingered in the back of his mind.

Giddy with relief, Thor turned onto his back, dragging the blankets with him, and let out a soft breath of excitement as he slid a hand down his own chest.

Oh wow, everything really did feel stronger, not just breeding urges! His skin lit up at the touch of more skin.

He teased himself, unhurried, enjoying this languid sensuality, and unexpected sensitivity. He slid his hand to one nipple, brushed against it, then felt the need to pinch it and did so, drawing a small gasp.

Eagerness growing, he tried the other, and shuddered at the wave of pleasure he got as a result. Wow! He’d never gotten much from nipples before, but this was... wow! He carefully teased one fingertip over the tip of his nipple, and felt his whole body tighten and writhe.

And this was just the beginning of his change. Over the next few weeks, it would get even more intense! The thought made Thor dizzy, and he pushed his hand downward, spreading his legs in need.

He stroked over his cock, already mostly hard. He felt the base, but no sign of a knot yet. Well, perhaps... but nothing certain, nothing that might not be wishful thinking. But the sensation was intense, nonetheless, and his hips pushed into his hand of their own accord.

Norns, how did alphas do anything other than stay in bed, or go seeking partners? Loki kept up with his duties and found time to study magic? He should be in bed constantly, enjoying eager, heated omega touches!

Oh, there was a thought. A low groan escaped Thor, as he imagined an omega near heat, in heat, hungrily pulling an alpha down to bed with them. He imagined the alpha’s hands, steady and sure, pushing their thighs apart, to find a slick and ready entrance. Imagined their hand…

His own hand trailed between his legs, and it was only the tiny spark of pain when he probed his own unprepared entrance that shook him from his fantasy with a jolt.

What!?

He jerked his hand upward, to his balls, the only reason it had to be playing between his legs! But for a few frantic seconds his play was mechanical, unpleasurable.

What...?

No. He pushed thought of it away. He was half asleep anyway! He thought, focused, on the fantasy of a slim, pretty omega under him, begging for his thick knot. Begging, legs spread wide, wet and vulnerable... He kept his hands on his cock, and massaged his balls.

Yes. A pretty, dark haired omega, with clever hands and an even cleverer tongue, with sharp eyes... A needy omega hole being stuffed full, so full, so wonderfully filled with a thick alpha knot... So full, full, fu-

He gasped as he finally came, and it took him some time to catch his breath, with little shudders of aftershock running through him with every twitch of his fingers against his balls.

Yes. Wow. That was...

As he’d expected, he was most certainly alpha!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	6. Chapter 6

When he got to breakfast, Loki was the only one there. Thor paused at the door a moment, amused and charmed. His little brother, attention buried in his reading, was absently taking huge, undignified bites of the roll he held, barely able to chew it all.

Thor tried not to laugh, or catch Loki’s attention, but couldn’t stop his grin. Loki was so conscious of his appearance, but he could never seem to help himself around food!

Then Loki seemed to notice him, and jerked his head up as if startled. He swallowed his huge bite. “Thor! I almost- Your scent is changing.”

Thor laughed, and went about gathering a plate of food. “For the better, I hope?” Loki often teased about Thor smelling after battle.

“It can’t possibly be for the worse.” He sniffed deeply, as Thor sat across from him. “You smell... You...” He sniffed again, as if not able to be certain. “Oh...”

Thor snorted. “I smell like soap, hopefully! My knot still isn’t in, if that’s what you’re after.” It was only three days; it would be unusual if it was in, so soon. “But changes are definitely starting! It’s...” He felt a little shiver of remembered lust.

“Oh yes?” There was something faintly guarded in Loki’s tone, a hint of tension. “What changes?”

Thor glanced around, feeling slightly flushed. It wasn’t unusual for them to talk about sex, but... well, he wouldn’t want Mother or Father to walk in. “You know, just... feelings.”

Loki frowned, but didn’t push, and for a moment Thor knew he could drop it there…

But no. He was determined not to let the distance between them remain, or worse, grow wider now that Thor was overtaking Loki once again. He’d sulked and withdrawn when Loki rushed to the temple; it was his fault they’d grown apart! He could damn well open up to this!

“Skin sensitivity, for one. And... wow, people weren’t lying about urges being stronger!”

Loki looked a bit surprised at the answer, but laughed warmly. “No, they weren’t! And your sense of smell?”

Thor sniffed deeply, focusing, and picked up... breakfast. With faint traces of... his own soap. He laughed. “Can definitively tell you that this smells delicious!” He took a big bite of his own.

Loki chuckled. Then his lips curled in that way that meant he was planning a trick. “Of course, the future king of Asgard should seem impressive in all things... Want to smell like an alpha today?”

Thor scoffed. “What, you have a spell that will speed up the change, or...”

His voice trailed off as Loki stood up and rounded the table toward him. Then, suddenly, Loki hugged him.

“Uh... I love you too, brother?”

“Oh, shut up. Stand up, so I can get my scent everywhere!”

OH! Thor laughed, but did stand. “Won’t I just smell like you?”

“We’re brothers; we should smell similar.” Loki kept pressing up against him, and touching, and... Thor looked hard at the breakfast table, trying to distract his recently heightened libido. Wow, this felt... Loki wasn’t doing anything particularly tantalizing, but…

When Loki ordered him to sit, Thor did so quickly, grateful for a way to hide any... unfortunate reactions he might be having. Yes, that was... something to get used to! But he’d managed not to embarrass himself, at least!

Then Loki’s fingers threaded into his hair.

WOW, that felt good!

“Hair carries scent wonderfully.” Loki said, tone academic, either unaware of or ignoring the way Thor had stiffened and forgotten how to breathe. “Actually, let me get my scent in there, then braid it, then if my scent starts fading later you can let it loose for a bit more.”

“Uh- uh huh!” Do not push up into Loki’s hands. Do not writhe. Do NOT moan. Wow, head massages were- Loki’s hands felt- Oh wow, yes!

He was unmistakably flustered by the time Loki sat back down. Loki pretended not to notice. It was probably completely normal for new alphas to be... like this! “There! You’ll smell like an alpha all day!”

“Brilliant, Loki!” he said, weakly. He couldn’t, at the moment, tell if it was at all brilliant, but it seemed like a safe answer. Certainly better than admitting he’s gotten a raging erection from his brother braiding his hair!

Loki, for himself, looked quite pleased about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last pre-written chapter, so updates will slow down a bit! But the plan is not to let myself overthink too much and keep plunging forward, so probably it’ll just be a day or two!

It was hardly his fault his libido was suddenly in confused overdrive. It was something every alpha went through! Omegas too! It was something completely understandable!

So he kept reminding himself, as he tried to subdue his embarrassment. And arousal.

He’d been sparring with Dran, an older alpha who sometimes lent his experience to their training. Thor was a great warrior, of course, able to best anyone even three times his own age, so he’d been enjoying the real challenge Dran gave him.

Then he’d been thinking about how gracefully and efficiently he moved... Then about how powerful he was, pressed against Thor in a close grapple... He’d... He’d gotten so distracted thinking about it he’d let Dran take him down, when he knew he could have stopped it.

Then Dran had been on top of him, but he’d still been fighting. And then he... hadn’t exactly been fighting.

He splashed more cold water on his face, wanting to wash away the memory. He’d been grinding his cock against Dran’s hip.

Dran had taken a deep breath, taken his scent, and looked confused. “Thor, are you-“

“Oh fuck, sorry! No!” He’d pushed Dran away, and Dran had let him, getting up quickly, and offering him a hand. He’d taken it, flaming red. “That- No. Sorry! I- The temple-“

“Of course. Don’t worry, it can happen to anyone!” Dran seemed to mean it. And of course he was right, erections happened, but he’d been... he’d gotten so caught up! Dran kept a hold on his arm. “Thor, are you-“

“Thor? Are you okay?”

Loki. He must have seen their fight’s abrupt end. He moved in close to Thor, all but shoving Dran away, and looked him over, before glaring at Dran, who looked between them with confusion.

“Loki, I’m fine! It was nothing! I made a mistake, that’s all!”

He put a restraining hand on Loki’s arm, desperately not wanting to draw more attention, or have to explain any more, to Loki of all people! Loki looked ready to fight Dran himself!

Thor couldn’t understand why he was reacting like that, but he’d been too embarrassed to care. He’d said he was fine again, then tried not to look like he was fleeing to the changing room.

Now he stood in the shower, water going cold. Norns, he’d been rutting up against Dran like an omega nearing heat! Then Loki coming to his rescue, and now he was running and hiding in the shower! Enough! Changing could excuse a random erection, but not this overreaction!

He finally turned the water off, and toweled his skin dry like he was preparing for battle. He strode out of the shower, and found Loki waiting, holding his clothes. He handed them over wordlessly, and Thor, forcefully, got dressed.

He paused, putting his shirt on, and brought it to his nose to breathe in the scent. “Did you... get your scent all over my clothes?” He breathed in again, trying to pin down what he’d sensed. Everyone had a smell of course, especially after working up a sweat, but this was…

He sniffed again. It was like another layer of Loki, something he’d never noticed before. Strong and... wow, he wanted... It must be his instinctive desire to either fight or ally any other alpha he met. He hadn’t expected it to churn in his belly like this.

Loki made a pleased noise. “You can tell?”

“Yes... It’s still pretty faint; I had to have this right in my face before I noticed.”

“It will get stronger. And... how does it feel?”

It was a strange question. Loki knew what it felt like to catch another alpha’s scent! But... Oh. Maybe he was worried Thor might react as if he were an enemy.

The ally bond, the “pack bond”, between alphas was an important part of keeping Asgardian society together. Alphas who viewed each other as allies could live together, share omegas, fight to defend each other. Every alpha warrior on Asgard formed an ally bond with every other! One giant “pack”! There were few enough to manage! Except…

It took some mental training to ensure that the correct bond formed. On rare occasions, a new alpha didn’t have enough self-control, and let themselves see another alpha as an enemy. It was always a problem. Generals had to make sure enemy alphas stayed far away from each other.

Thor laughed, at Loki’s uncertain expression. “You’re not my enemy, brother!” He breathed the scent in again, before finally letting his shirt fall around him, then moved closer and put a reassuring hand over his brother’s shoulder, and around the back of his neck.

Loki searched his face, then smiled faintly. “Well, that is a relief. And... Dran?”

Thor grimaced, and pulled away. He tried to busy himself drying his hair. “I don’t think I caught his scent. I was just... rubbing against him and... well, you must remember what it was like.”

Loki trailed slowly after him. “I remember becoming an alpha, yes. I remember... feeling very aggressive, for a while.”

“Well, that’s probably why you should wait until you’re one hundred.” Thor muttered. He wouldn’t mind aggression so much. Less embarrassing.

“Perhaps.” Then Loki stepped forward smoothly, and took Thor’s comb. “Let me. It occurred to me that after I covered you with my scent this morning, we’ll really want to keep that up, until your own scent gets strong. You don’t want people to realize you were faking, after all.”

“It was your idea!” Thor protested. But without force, as Loki started ministering his hair, and Thor’s spine seemed to melt.

Loki’s hands were hypnotic, first using the comb, then his fingers, pulling Thor’s hair into order. “Maybe you should avoid sparring for a few days.”

Until he got his unexpected erections under control. Which, to judge by... arising evidence... would take a bit more work. “Yeah, good idea.”

If he kept getting this way just sparring, and being around Loki, it was about time he found an omega!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	8. Chapter 8

He’d found an omega.

It had been… underwhelming.

He’d just built up expectations, he supposed. He’d got himself worked up, expecting some big first time alpha experience, but his knot wasn’t in yet, and he was still only faintly smelling pheromones. His changes were making him embarrassingly horny, but apparently hadn’t blossomed into a full alpha mating drive yet.

So, he’d found Tay, an omega he’d spent lots of pleasant nights with before, and it had been… fine. He’d made sure Tay had a good time, anyway.

He should have just waited until his changes were done! Or not expected so much, when they weren’t!

In any case, he was somehow even hornier now, restless and unsatisfied.

And, he found, without sparring and training, he had a lot of free time when he was used to being busy. Too much free time. Too much free time with nothing to do but feel horny.

He’d masturbated a couple times, but then told himself marinating in bed all day wasn’t a way for a future king to behave, so now he was sitting up, trying to read a history of the realms.

It was boring. Thor wasn’t very good at reading when he didn’t have a specific purpose.

His purpose was to accumulate knowledge a king should have, he told himself. He tried to focus.

His free hand played idly with a belt he’d taken off earlier. He tried to read the last paragraph again, about their early days on Vanaheim.

He tucked the end of the belt under his thigh, giving it tension when he pulled on it, and started twisting the belt into a knot. Actually, he hated reading stuff like this. It was so boring it was painful. He propped his book up on a pillow, so he had both hands free to play with the belt, trying to calm the unnecessary stress rising in him.

Vanaheim had once been several kingdoms. He shook his left hand, trying to free it from the loop of belt that had somehow gotten around his wrist. Vanaheim’s many kingdoms had a complicated tangle of hatred and alliances. He twisted his hand and tugged, and the belt pulled tight around his wrist. Vanaheim had- He’d lost his train of thought.

He went back to the beginning of the paragraph, trying again to break down the superfluous language into simpler points. Vanaheim had been many different kingdoms. He pulled his wrist again, feeling the belt tug tight across his sensitive inner wrist. Vanaheim had… not always gotten along. He wrapped another loop around his wrist, pulling the belt tight enough he could barely move. Vanaheim had… wars. Skirmishes. He could imagine fighting. Being pinned. A hand tight around his wrist. He tugged against the belt more, imagining being unable to escape.

Fuck! He pushed the book aside, sprawling down on his bed, and opened his pants with his left hand. Yes, oh, having his wrists pinned, by someone strong enough to take even him, someone worthy to-

What?

To… To bear his children, of course. Was he- Was he one of those alphas who liked the omega to be in charge?

No. He finally twisted his hand free of the belt. No, he… No. He almost always liked being in control during sex. He’d heard of omegas being caught up by strong urges to surrender, sometimes. If they fought their needs for too long, things seemed to build up. The norns put those breeding urges in for a reason, and did not like to be denied. A lot of omegas liked to get pregnant as soon as possible, in the brief window of fertility before heat really hit properly, to avoid exactly that kind of… of craven submissiveness, that might overcome them!

But alphas… Well, there was nothing wrong with an alpha who liked that kind of thing! Thor knew alphas like that, and there was nothing wrong with it at all! But… they’d kind of been that way before going to the norns.

And Thor certainly wasn’t!

Nothing wrong with… with exploring a kink, but clearly right now he was so mixed up and horny he’d get worked up by anything. And he didn’t want to… to set any uncomfortable new kinks in place right now, when they might dig in deep.

Ugh. Even though he’d barely started masturbating, he felt a mess. His crotch had gotten all sweaty, and it had all seemed to run into the crack of his ass, making him feel sticky and wet.

He got up and staggered to his bathing room, stripped his clothes off, and sank into his tub, always warm and waiting. He felt tense and anxious and… and still horny, and…

Well, people did always say it was like a second puberty.

He sank deeper into the pool, and took hold of his cock again, almost without thinking. Almost without wanting to. He felt so out of sorts; maybe an orgasm would at least relax him.

He thought about Tay. Better nights with Tay. He thought about all the things that usually got him off. About a partner trembling and gasping with ecstasy beneath him. His imaginings of an omega wild with heat.

He scowled. It wasn’t doing anything! What was wrong with him today? He tried to focus on the physical sensations. No fantasies. Just his hand. Warm water all around him. Flowing between his spread legs. He got fully hard, finally, but hissed in frustration. Still no knot, not even the beginning of one. How long did those usually take to show? Alphas always bragged they had a full, huge knot by the end of the first week, but that hardly made it true. They liked to brag about fighting giants barehanded.

And now he was losing his erection again! He grabbed his cape, discarded after his embarrassing attempt at sparring, and dragged it over his face, in a dramatic effort to block out the world, and therefore somehow his thoughts. He breathed in.

OH.

Either his sense of smell was getting stronger, or Loki had gotten more of his scent on Thor’s cape than his shirt.

And the cape was definitely working. His cock was suddenly unflaggingly hard. Loki’s scent was so thick like this. Thor spread his legs wider, head buzzing, thoughts not connecting. Thick. Thick, heavy… He was breathing hard, erection suddenly urgent and needy, gulping air. Scent. Loki’s-

Thor gasped as he came. And that just made it worse, as he breathed in more of the scent, just set off a second wave before the first was over. Then another, then-

When he finally could, he weakly, shakily, swatted the cape off of him, and considered letting himself slide underwater to hide forever.

Talk about not setting up uncomfortable new kinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, this isn’t just an infinite series of Thor Being Oblivious. I’m having fun with that, but it’s going somewhere eventually!
> 
> —————
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	9. Chapter 9

Thor couldn’t spend another day in his room. He was clearly going mad, trapped with his own thoughts!

Because he’d used his cape again. His cape, soaked with Loki’s scent.

He’d used it… more than once.

He’d told himself not to. It wasn’t right. It didn’t matter that they were brothers; they were gods, and above the genetic flaws that made so many mortals avoid close breeding.

But Loki was an alpha!

It wasn’t right for him to want another alpha like this! Alphas fooled around together sometimes, but really only for show, for the shocking transgression of the act. Or on a dare or a bet, something silly and harmless! They didn’t- want each other! They didn’t get off on another alpha’s scent!

What was WRONG with him?

Too much time locked in his room, that was the problem! He was so horny right now, and… and it looked like he got an unexpected thrill from breaking rules. That was all. Normal!

And he’d been so stressed and anxious, before he’d used the cape the first time. Probably it was just that Loki’s scent was familiar. Comfortable. Safe!

His own mind laughed at him. Loki was never, at any time, safe.

Too much time in his room. That was the problem. He was leaving. Plenty of stuff to do other than sparring!

Loki came in, just as he was finishing getting ready.

“Thor?” He called the word tentatively, closing the door behind him. “How… are you feeling?”

Thor crushed the leap in his stomach at the sound of Loki’s voice, the strength of his scent, composed himself, and strode out of his closet, trying to look very calm and unbothered. “I’m bored!” he boomed, forcing cheerfulness.

Loki looked surprised, then looked Thor over skeptically. “I have to admit, I half expected to find you’d wanked yourself into dehydration. Bored?”

“Bored! I’m going to go to the tavern, or maybe see that new play. I suppose you’re much too busy to join?”

Loki actually stuck his tongue out - a silliness he only allowed himself around Thor. Loki sometimes got caught up in his spellwork, and claimed to be too busy for fun, but it really wasn’t as often as Thor and their friends teased him about. “A tavern? Is that really a good idea, brother? Now?”

Thor snorted, as he made some final adjustments to his hair. “I’m not ill!”

“No, of course.” Loki sounded thoughtful. Always dangerous. “Well, I came in good time, then. Let me…”

He stepped forward, and Thor realized just in time what he meant to do. He tried to imagine being covered in Loki’s scent right now, and almost fell over scrambling to get away. “No! No, that’s- No, thank you!”

Loki stopped, and took a deep breath. “Brother-“

“I can pick up your scent all the way from here; my own must be coming in by now!” He laughed, trying to loosen the tension. He felt wrong. Everything felt wrong, and it shouldn’t! He wanted everything not to be wrong! He tried to tease. “If anyone asks, I’ll just tell them it was one of your pranks!”

Loki didn’t smile. He licked his lips, eyes flickering away from Thor. “Your scent is coming in. It’s quite noticeable, now.”

“Good. See? What were you going to do, cover me with your scent forever?” He wanted out. He had to go. He felt an awful tension building. The aggression Loki had talked about? He didn’t want to fight. Or maybe he did, but it was a dark, twisting thing in his belly, and he was afraid of what would happen if he let it out.

He tried to go around Loki to the door, and Loki actually moved to block him. “Wait. Thor, you have to-“

“I don’t have to do anything except get out of this room!” He shoved Loki - he’d have to wash his hands, the scent was maddening - but Loki moved too fast, and threw himself in front of the door.

“You can’t go out smelling like that!”

The urgency, almost panic, in Loki’s voice made him pause. But he was still angry, and had to keep himself from yelling. “Like what? What do I smell like? An alpha not a week out of the temple? No one’s expecting me to have my full scent yet!”

“That’s… That's not what you smell like!”

Thor growled. He could feel a storm growing in him. He had to keep it under control. “Say what you mean! I can’t take these riddles!”

Loki took a deep breath. “I was trying to give you time, to figure it out on your own. To come to terms with it, before everybody…”

And suddenly Thor didn’t want to hear it. Not one more word, from his brother’s lying, twisting tongue. “More riddles!” He shoved Loki aside, ignoring his protest, flung his door open, and stormed out. Out, out, anywhere but here!

“Thor! Brother, please, listen!”

He didn’t. He didn’t want to hear anything that trickster had to say!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh shit.
> 
> —————
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	10. Chapter 10

“Thor!” Loki came after him, but Thor just scowled, and kept walking ahead. Loki fell in beside him. “You aren’t this stupid! You don’t actually need me to tell you why this is a bad idea!”

Thor ignored him. He was trying to get the storm in his chest under control, before it ended up in the sky. Deep breath. In. Out. Relaxed shoulders. In…

“Fine! Fine, go out! Why not? I’m not going to be the one to tell you, and end up smashed through a wall, just because you can’t get past your childish denial!”

Commander San was walking toward them down the hall, headed the opposite direction. She barely glanced at them - bickering princes was hardly an uncommon sight - but when she got close, her steps faltered, and her head whipped around, eyes searching them over. Thor’s own head jerked up, as he caught her alpha scent, like a kick in the gut. “Prince… Tho-“

Loki turned and growled at her, with full alpha fury. She turned quickly, and kept walking.

Thor didn’t ask. He didn’t care. Loki was full of riddles, and lies, and wouldn’t say what he meant! He suggested- He implied… ridiculous falsehoods! And Thor wasn’t in the mood to untangle his tongue! He strode on.

At some point, he remembered Volstagg’s welcome home party. Of course! His friend had been gone for weeks, and he’d had every intention of going to the party, before he’d started feeling so off-balance, these last few days. That’s where he would go! A perfect way to get his mind off his own self, and remember that there was more to life than his cape with Loki’s scent, and Loki’s quick footsteps by his side, and Loki’s slippery lies in his ear, and Loki’s twenty years of alpha scent floating all around him, and-

Ignoring Loki’s occasional, renewed outbursts, Thor hurried to the tavern where they were meeting, and paused briefly at the door before entering, trying to put himself in a properly sociable mindset.

Loki caught his arm. “Thor, please! Brother! You must listen!”

Thor took a deep, shaky breath, and turned toward Loki.

Loki’s shoulders dropped, in apparent relief. “You-“ He took a breath, and tried again. “Before you go in, you have to accept-“

Thor yanked his arm away, and flung the door open. No! Whatever Loki was trying to say, he had no interest in hearing it!

He strode in, and immediately had to stop, at the wall of scents he’d crashed in. He blinked for a moment, disoriented by the crowd, but shook it off when he heard his name called. He looked over, and grinned in relief. Sif, Hogun, and Fandral had a table, and were smiling, waving him over. And Volstagg was already up, crossing the space toward him in huge steps. “Thor!”

“Volstagg! Welcome home! How was your trip?”

“Boring! I missed Fandral’s heat, I missed your hundredth birthday, I missed my friends! I’ll never travel alone again!”

Over his shoulder, Sif made a gesture suggesting that Volstagg had been enjoying the drinks of home a great deal already. Thor laughed.

Then he was close enough to wrap Thor into a crushing hug, and he did, lifting Thor off the ground. And Thor felt… better! So much better, to be crushed in a friend’s embrace, than brooding in his room! He hugged his friend back.

Volstagg took a deep sniff, then gave an incredulous laugh. “Thor! No one told me you were omega!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: I would like to dedicate this chapter to Fuck Periods, and The Cramps That Go With Them.

“Ha ha.” Thor gave his friend a playful shove back. Trying to be playful. Trying to still untwist himself from the tense mood Loki and the last few days had put him in.

Volstagg didn’t seem to notice any tension, anyway, and instead caught Loki in a boozily enthusiastic hug, laughing as Loki yelped like a cat.

Thor couldn’t drop it. He wanted Volstagg to drop his joke. Acknowledge the… the utter nonsense of it! “I’m alpha!” he said, clearly, as Volstagg finally released his brother.

Volstagg frowned, then grabbed Thor’s shoulder again and leaned in close to smell him. “What, did you just sleep with an…” He sniffed, and straightened decisively. “You’re definitely omega!”

“He’s in denial.” Loki said, tone helpless.

“I am not! Did you put them up to this?” He tossed the accusation at Loki, but didn’t wait for his answer, going instead to the table their friends were waiting at. One of them would give up this ridiculous joke!

“Fandral! Smell Thor!” Volstagg said, before they could even sit down. No point asking Sif or Hogun; Sif hadn’t been to the temple yet, and as for Hogun, barren people couldn’t pick up alpha/omega pheromones.

“Why? Is he-“ He leaned in close as Thor sat down, then jerked back in surprise. “Norns! I didn’t see that coming! Welcome to the noble order, my friend! Let me know if you need some tips; the first pregnancy is always the hardest!!”

Loki hovered a moment, then sat down cautiously, as if ready to jump to safety at any moment. Thor glared at him. “You did put them up to this!”

Loki shook his head.

“What is it? Is Thor omega?” Sif asked, looking between them all.

“I am not!”

“Yes! The scent’s not too strong yet, but it’s definitely omega!”

“Have you decided who you’re going to have your first heat with yet?”

“Does your mother know?”

“That first heat can be tricky to avoid, but if you want a list of recommendations…”

“Oh realms, does Odin know?”

“Have you had an alpha yet? If you’re nervous-“

Thor pushed up abruptly, shaking the table, silencing his friends. The anger had broken out, he could feel it, drawing dark clouds into the sky above. “Enough!” he roared.

The entire tavern went quiet. His friends stared at him, startled. Except Loki, who buried his face in his hand.

“I am an alpha! And I am your future king! I won’t tolerate any more of this childish joke!”

Volstagg made a calming gesture. “Thor, lad…”

Thor turned to him, glaring, ready to accept his apology, if properly given. Volstagg was the oldest of them. He should have known better than to get caught up in one of Loki and Fandral’s childish games!

“You’re omega. There’s no doubt.”

Thor slammed his fist down on the table, shattering it, then grabbed the front of Volstagg’s shirt and hauled him up. “You’ll pay for-“ Loki, moving fast in the corner of his eye! Thor swung Volstagg around, tossing him bodily into Loki, then Sif, Hogun, and Fandral all seemed to be piling onto him at once. He shook them off, just in time for Volstagg to tackle him. He could hear yelling, demands for them to get out, and next thing he knew their stupid, undignified, ridiculous, LYING scuffle was dragging outside.

Fine. He could work with more room. With atmosphere. As he blocked another attack from Loki, and threw Hogun into Volstagg, he felt his lightning begin to crawl up his arms, filling his eyes. Traitors! Liars! All of them!

Then, through the tangle of tackling bodies and scuffling limbs, he caught a momentary, clear sight of Loki firmly, protectively, shoving Fandral back.

Because Fandral was pregnant, and Thor was using lightning. Loki might even be the father. But more importantly, Loki knew Fandral was pregnant, and had to protect him. Because Loki was an alpha. Loki was an alpha, and had to protect omegas, and Thor didn’t… He didn’t… He could have smashed Fandral’s stupid, charming face into the dirt! But Loki smelled so good. Volstagg smelled…

Still fighting, still punching and elbowing and shocking, as his friends tried to drag him down, he felt a sob tear up his throat.

Thunder crashed, and the skies opened up.

And it covered the sound, but not the smell. Not with them this close, wrestling against him. The cold couldn’t kill that he… he wanted them! He wanted their alpha scents, and their alpha cocks! And he hadn’t wanted Fandral! Hadn’t wanted to protect Fandral!

His vision was blurry, and his throat was tight, and his arms weren’t moving like he told them to. His struggles were getting weak, unfocused, useless, because he couldn’t breathe or see, or stop smelling alpha scent. He felt his friends, one by one, release him, as they realized he had no more fight.

Except Loki. Who held him. Sank with him into the mud, when his legs gave out. He clung onto his brother, who smelled so horribly good, and Loki held him, as he cried.

“I’m omega.” He choked out the words. A plea for help. “I’m omega.”

Loki held him. “It’s okay.” He could feel Loki’s chest moving. His deep, determined breaths. “We’ll make it be okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no control over this fic. I had plans! Instead they’re having a good, cathartic hug-cry in the rain. Fine! Good! Do as you like, you angsty bastards!
> 
> ———
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	12. Chapter 12

Once upon a time, some tens of thousands of years ago, alphas and omegas on Asgard worked much like they do on any world.

The primary bond was the mating bond. Alphas bonded to omegas, and even claimed them, as if they were possessions. If packs formed, they were small things. Fighting between alphas was common, and freedom for omegas was scarce.

At some point, a great king - a great-great-great-however-far-back-grandfather of the now King Odin - had begun the process of uniting the alphas. They had too many enemies to fight besides each other! It had taken many generations of effort. But, eventually, it had worked.

Eventually, every alpha on Asgard viewed each other as a single, powerful pack!

They were a small world. And, as if the norns approved of their efforts, the number of alphas had dropped for a time, before steadying out at their current level, around two hundred or so.

A pack bond superseded mating bonds. Packs shared omegas, and cared for each other’s children. So, with no mating bonds tying them down, or aggressive, unattached alphas to guard against, omegas were free.

And society, run by alphas, who so adored their omegas, structured itself around these free omegas.

Omegas became leaders of their own households, a crucial institution of society. Oh, any adult alpha or barren person might have a home, if they wished. But a home was not a household, and households belonged to omegas. They were where children grew and socialized and played. They were where alpha warriors came for rest and comfort. They were where barren people came to get their fill of children.

By design, children were raised communally. They were, after all, all one pack! Fatherhood was only casually acknowledged, if it was even known. A child’s mother was important - they were who any other adult would go to with concerns about a child - but no omega could possibly effectively parent their constant stream of children, century after century, while almost always pregnant, and have their own life as well! And siblings… well, they were all siblings, because they were all one pack! So barren people were always informally adopting their younger siblings and taking them home. Children would make friends and drift into each other’s households. Any alpha who came around would treat every child as their own, because who could possibly keep track, and why would they want to anyway?

It took work. Everyone had to be trained, just in case they might be an alpha, to form pack bonds instead of seeing other alphas as enemies. Everyone, from the king down, had to be ready to support anyone who turned out to be omega. Everyone watched children. Care was taken to intermix, and build communities, so there would never be a household that was isolated or ostracized. But the payoff was a society with no one left out. There were no category of others, no non-people, left neglected. There was no poverty, because they were all entwined.

It was happy and plentiful, as a society of gods should be.

It wasn’t perfect.

Young adults, too old to be seen as children, sometimes got caught in the cracks. A free, enthusiastic embracing of sex was encouraged, to build bonds, but that had inevitable hazards for the young and inexperienced. Among warriors, for examples, predators like Amora found room to exist, feeding on a young warrior’s desire to prove themselves knowledgeable and tough.

Omegas sometimes protested that they were not free, not really. They were not allowed to be full warriors, much less progress up the ranks, no matter how great their skill! But really, how would they, when they were so constantly pregnant? The norns had given them their fertility and heats because breeding was what they needed to do. It was unfortunate, perhaps, for a young warrior with ambition. It was unfair, to someone who’d had other plans for their life! But the norns seemed to take these kinds of things into account, and usually only granted omega fertility to those who were suited for it. If they made an exception, and made someone resistant into an omega, it was seen as a sign that that person being an omega was truly important to the norns, and to Asgard’s future!

And mating bonds, those much-lauded things of poetry and historical romances, were long extinct. The closest they got any more was when two omegas decided to share a household - unlike alphas, omegas could very much feel attraction to their own kind. Many people had favorite partners, of course, but they would never hesitate to enjoy another’s company. And with omegas outnumbering alphas, it was an alphas duty to care for every omega - especially when they needed sexual attention!

Which was often. Pregnancy made them horny. Needing to be pregnant made them horny. Really, everything except the healing period after birth made them horny. …Perhaps it would be better to say that they were simply, naturally horny. Nature’s way of ensuring alphas stayed invested, perhaps.

Fortunately, heat was not nearly the problem it once had been. Call it evolution, call it intervention by the norns. Since they had formed their single pack, omegas had developed a slower heat. They had a grace period of several days of fertility, before what people thought of as heat - with the desperation, and the begging, and the overwhelming instincts - started. During those few days, they would certainly feel the difference, and their scents would change to ensure alpha attention, but they retained more than enough control to go about their day, and be selective with their partner. They kept their dignity, and could usually be satisfied in a matter of hours, instead of days. An omega went into heat only if they chose to. Or if they resisted the warning signs.

It was, all in all, a good society. Many a world did worse, with or without alphas and omegas!

It was a society that took work. Like dancing, great care and deliberation was needed, to make it look easy and natural.

A leader for such a society could not simply be picked. And so the king, along with a few lords - all alphas - had to occasionally break the pattern of casually ignored fatherhood. They would choose an appropriate omega, and have an heir or two.

Usually two, born close together. It wasn’t good for a child to be too isolated, and having two meant you had two possible candidates, while only having to go through the education once. And if neither proved satisfactory, another two could always be had!

But with Thor, it had been clear early on that Odin had found his heir.

He was the god of thunder! He triumphed in combat against warriors three times his age! He had the charm of a leader, drawing people in, and the love a king should have for his people! He practically glowed golden, as if to highlight the norns’ approval of him as a ruler!

And, yes, he was an arrogant fool, but that could be outgrown.

He was perfect. He had been raised knowing he was perfect. He had been raised feeling, at every moment, Odin’s crushing gaze, judging his perfection. But that was fine, because he was perfect. He was always perfect. The perfect son. The perfect warrior. The perfect lover. The perfect heir. Perfect, golden, Thor.

A lot of effort went into making something look easy. Asgard was a dance. Perfection was a dance. It took effort to be golden. Enough effort to make a person burnt and brittle inside.

Sometimes, even the one making the effort could be fooled.

Of course Thor would be the perfect king, the norns had all but put a crown on him! He was always perfect!

Of course he would be the perfect alpha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah yeah, this chapter was mostly just an excuse for some background world building. This started as a twitter thread; it’s hard to sneak too much in like that! :P
> 
> ———
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	13. Chapter 13

Loki woke at a loud knock, groggy and for a moment unable to tell where he was, or why he felt so stiff and-

Thor. Thor’s room. And the reason he felt like he’d been coated by a thin layer of death in the night was because he’d slept in the chair he’d dragged over next to Thor’s bed.

The feral desire to murder whoever invented mornings had nothing to do with the night before, that was just how he felt whenever someone woke him too early. So at least one thing was normal.

Fortunately for the knocker, Thor was always more coherent upon waking, so he made it to the door before Loki had quite figured out which way gravity went. And by the time Thor returned, Loki mostly had himself together.

Thor. Thor knew he was omega now, after all his denial! Thor was in a terrible state, ruined and heartbroken, and-

“You stayed the night?!” Thor sounded as if he couldn’t decide between being outraged, or teasing Loki for such unnecessary sentimentality.

The tone made Loki’s back straighten, almost a jump. Unnecessary his ass! “I wanted to make sure you were okay!” This was why he liked to sleep alone, this right here! His tongue didn’t curl around lies properly until he had some kind of food in him, and unfiltered truth had a habit of slipping out.

“I’m not ill! I’m-“ Thor stopped, his tone going from robust to frozen in a moment. He swallowed.

Loki folded his arms, and opted to plow through the awkwardness, finally getting his mental feet under him. “Oh please! You were sobbing your eyes out last night.”

“I-“ Thor hesitated, stumbling over the truth of it, but then seemed to get over that hurdle. “I was not!”

“Oh, boo hoo hoo!” Loki mocked. “I’m a big strong warrior and I want alpha dick! Surely no one has ever gone through this before!”

“That is not what happened!” Thor started coming toward him, hands clenching as if longing to grab Loki.

Loki was almost laughing, as he backed away, circling. He’d been tiptoeing around Thor for days, it was good to be able to barb him again! “Sobbing like a babe! Oh, the epic tragedy! I should write a play!” He let his guard down to strike a dramatic pose. “The incomparable drama of wanting so much alpha dick you cause a thunderstorm, and you’re not even in heat yet! The dicks! The tears! The knots!” He gasped. “Where will we even get enough fake omega slick?”

Thor charged him, and Loki was only partially able to dodge, leading to a messy pile of Odinson on the ground. “That is not why I was upset!”

“Oh! It’ll be a musical!” While trying to squirm free of Thor’s grip, he started singing off-key and poorly tuned. “My asshole is wet with loooonging! I haven’t a knot of my oooown! When I smell an alpha, the clouds start throbbiiiing! Oh what- Umf!” Thor finally managed to get his hand over Loki’s mouth, and keep it there.

Loki licked him. Which hadn’t worked for decades, but always made Thor make a hilarious noise of disgust. “For fuck’s sake, shut up!”

Loki relaxed under Thor’s hand, and let his laughter subside. Slowly.

“You’re such a dick!”

Loki fluttered his lashes, flirtatious invitation, getting another noise of outrage.

Gods, he’d missed this.

Thor eventually let him up, and Loki managed to keep himself to a small snicker, as he sat up. He started to straighten his mussed clothes. “Well, it looks like that consuming omega submissiveness hasn't set in yet.”

Snorting, Thor gave him a shove, knocking him flat again. “You’re the worst brother.”

Loki sat up once again, and picked back up with his insolent clothes-straightening. “Who was at the door?”

That wiped the amused, happy annoyance off Thor’s face. “A messenger. Father is expecting us at breakfast today.”

Loki flinched, his own mood plummeting. Usually, breakfast was laid out, and they all might or might not be there at the same time. They all had their own duties and business, and at a century old, Loki and Thor hardly needed daily supervision. Every two weeks, they had a formal breakfast together, along with their mother.

That shouldn’t have been for another week.

“Ah.”

Thor was looking away, body very still. Like he did, when he was trying not to be upset.

“Gossip travels quickly.”

“Yeah.” His voice was stiff. Brittle.

Loki tried to still the sick squirming in his gut. “If you want more time… I can convince him it was only gossip. I can cover your scent again, maybe use a bit of illusion… I can buy you a few more days.” He wanted to help him. To protect him. He needed to.

He was trying so, so hard not to think of Thor’s omega scent, all around him. Not to think of his own…

Well. Unlike Thor, Loki wasn’t prone to lengthy denial. But what he wanted wasn’t the point at the moment. Thor needed his help now. Only that.

Thor finally let out a heavy breath. “No. No, there’s no point. Might as well get it over with.”

Yes, he supposed so. He told the nagging pit in his stomach to calm down. How bad could it be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been debating if I should tag this slow burn? I have some idea where it's going, but not exactly. These two might jump each other in the next chapter, or dance around it for another thirty! So, uh... warning, possible slow burn!
> 
> I'm just happy my writer's block seems to be staying away. Fuck, y'all, I was stuck in that for so long...
> 
> Now if my ability to write the horny stuff would sashay back in, I could declare the damage done by trusting a doctor and taking meds they didn't ask any questions before prescribing to be UNDONE!

The messenger had been wrong. They were not wanted for breakfast.

They were wanted in the throne room.

Both of them.

Loki followed Thor, wondering if he understood what this was likely to be. Wondering how far he’d let himself think about the results of his new omega status.

Loki had thought of it quite a bit.

He wouldn’t be able to be king. He wouldn’t even be able to be a full warrior. Oh, sparring and tournaments, and the occasional little trip to clear out trolls or giants, they were all well and good, when an omega wasn’t too pregnant. But any combat of significance would be out. Any climbing up the warrior ranks would be out. He would be spending his time starting and maintaining a household of his own. Doing all the endless work that went into keeping their society, their pack, healthy and well-connected. He would be entertaining alphas and managing children and overseeing community events. As a claimed Odinson, he would likely be expected to do those things especially well!

But he would not be king.

And Loki? Well, Loki was still a warrior, and an alpha. But there would really be no more reason for him to stay about the palace, another uninheriting Odinson. He’d really only stayed this long because he was effectively Thor’s advisor, and had expected to continue to be so all their lives. Ninety-nine was considered a bit young to move out, but only slightly, and he was already alpha!

It was a calming thought, and he took a slow breath, letting the thoughts of this future cool him. He could go get a home of his own, and continue his magical studies, and be free of Odin’s constant judging gaze! He wouldn’t have to be so careful of appearing to fit in. He’d never been able to live up to the standard Thor set, but he’d tried, spent so very much effort trying, to at least be passable. He’d never be entirely free of scrutiny - he was still an Odinson, and neither he nor Thor were likely to fade into obscurity - but he’d be able to relax a bit. Gain his own notoriety as a capable sorcerer, let his strangeness be a trait he was known for, not scorned into hiding!

He wouldn’t mind being the strange sorcerer young warriors had to nerve each other up to approaching. Wouldn’t at all mind being a source of some gossip and rumors, as long as they were interesting ones. Maybe he’d get himself a shop in a questionable part of the city, then magic up some nice foreboding shadows around the entrance, just to add to the fun. Sometimes he would be very practical, plopping spellbooks on the counter and setting solid, monetary prices. Other times, he would speak in riddles, and demand payment in the form of a spider’s web spun at midnight, or a lie from a false lover’s tongue.

It was a thought he wanted to get lost in. He would have his fun and his studies, and then he would return to his own little home, well outside of the cold golden palace. Norns, to be free of this empty, echoing place!

And, hopefully, he… wouldn’t be spending too much time in his single alpha home. Many alphas spent their nights in the household of an omega they…

He cast a discreet look toward Thor, who was looking tense with nerves. Thor would likely need support as he set up his household.

He certainly needed support now! Loki turned his thoughts firmly away from this happy future, and told his mood - which had been turning actually cheerful! - to calm down. Thor had never wanted or expected anything but Odin’s approval, and his path to kingship. He wouldn’t see, at first, how good this could be!

Just before they entered the throne room, Loki put a hand on Thor’s back, reminding him of his support. Thor paused, looking at the door as if he never wanted to open it.

It couldn’t have lasted two seconds. Loki slid his hand down to the small of Thor’s back. He felt Thor shiver. Not fear, but a visceral, omega response. He smelled a whiff of Thor’s arousal, responding to an alpha’s touch, even now. Perhaps especially now, when he needed comfort. Perhaps… especially Loki’s touch.

And for a moment, just in that second’s pause before the doors, Loki wanted to grab Thor and take him away from this. Take him just around the corner, out of sight, and press him against the wall, and… and protect him, and cover his body with Loki’s own, and claim-

No no no. He pulled his hand quickly back from Thor, and it clenched into a fist. No. No. He knew exactly what he wanted. And he wanted it badly enough to wait, now that the norns had done the impossible, and put it within his grasp.

Thor took a deep breath, clearly pushing aside the moment just as Loki was, and pushed the large doors open.

He strode in, and took his place front and center before Odin’s throne, back straight and proud, as Loki stepped up beside him. Their mother was there. As were all the senior members of Odin’s council. All arrayed to see Thor’s dethroning.

“Thor Odinson.” The All-Father’s voice always boomed from his throne, in a way clever architecture couldn’t quite account for. “Rumors have reached me that the norns’ wisdom for you has made itself known, and that you are omega!” The last word seemed to snap and bounce with special force. The force of a word of shame. Loki clenched his teeth at the hypocrisy of his tone. “Is this true?”

Thor didn’t flinch in the slightest, only lifted his chin higher still. He was gleaming now. His best armor shown. His golder hair flowed freely. His hammer hung at his belt, as if to remind everyone that he alone, still, could lift it. He looked every bit the heir Odin wanted. The Asgardian ideal.

“It is.” The boom of his voice was natural, carried by no magic or force beyond his own, and carried at least as clearly as Odin’s own. “I am omega. I am the God of Thunder, the wielder of Mjolnir, and a warrior and prince of Asgard! And I am prepared to continue to serve my kingdom as I always have!”

Loki’s breath caught, watching him then, in all his gleaming glory. In that moment, he did not care about his own imaginings of being free of this palace. He saw Thor shining, and wanted only for him to have this victory, as he was always meant to. Yes! This is how it would happen! Thor would be omega, and still be a warrior, still be the future king! He would rewrite Asgard’s history! The norns had made him this embodiment of golden, undeniable strength, so that there could be no doubt what path they intended for him!

“No.”

The word - Odin’s word - was simple and final. And the room seemed to darken, as if the word was trying to smother Thor.

“An omega cannot be a warrior. An omega cannot be king. These ancient rules…” He paused, to stare at Thor, with a disdain Loki knew all too well, even seeing it second hand. “make no exception for you.”

Perhaps it wasn’t Odin’s voice darkening the room, now. Perhaps it was Thor’s clouds, which were slowly, but undeniably, thickening outside the windows. His breath was coming just a little too hard. “I-”

“You are no longer heir to the throne of Asgard. You will begin your own household, and care for Asgard’s children, as is every omega’s duty. Since your upbringing did not prepare you for this task, the Lady Frigga will assist you in your transition.” He made a formal gesture toward her, not acknowledging her as anything more than another court omega.

Loki made sure to keep his exhale very slow, to hide what he felt. His chest hurt for Thor. But something deeper, beneath that, sang with joy. Free! They would be free of this place! This empty golden shell, where they had grown up all alone except for each other! Finally, free!

“Loki. You will be my heir. I declare you, now, crown prince, and next in line for the throne of Asgard.”

Loki froze.

Later, he couldn’t remember exactly what had happened after that. What had been said or done.

He remembered feeling the cage of the palace close around him, all alone this time.

And he remembered thinking that he really should have seen this coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	15. Chapter 15

They made it back to their rooms in silence.

The sight of their doors, in their well-lit hallway - the one part of the palace that really felt warm - made thought reawaken in Loki. In the form of a sick panic.

Thor was going to leave.

Thor was going to leave him all alone here, with nothing but Odin and his advisors, with nothing but expectations they all knew he’d already failed! Thor was going to leave! And Loki wouldn’t see him any more than he saw any of Thor’s friends! Maybe less, since Thor would be learning how to keep a household!

And that panicky thought led to a different, visceral thing. Thor would be in heat soon. A few days? A few weeks? Thor would be in heat soon, and he was leaving. Thor would be in heat soon, and he’d be spending more time away, near other alphas, than near Loki!

It was a wrong thought. A bad, unhealthy, very wrong thought. A normal alpha wouldn’t have these thoughts! But instead of clinging to Thor like a drowning person, begging him to stay, Loki suddenly wanted to pin him to the nearest bed, and inform Thor that, in fact, he would be staying right exactly here, where he belonged!

Wrong, bad, unhealthy thoughts…

Thor spoke, finally, seeming still in shock. As if he didn’t know how to enter his room. “I… have to pack.” It sounded like a question.

Thor was leaving NOW? Is that what Loki had missed, while his ears blocked everything out? But of course, Odin would be in a hurry to get him out of the way, now that he didn’t suit!

“I’ll help.” Pack his clothes. His books. His armor. Maybe Loki could fold himself up in one of the boxes.

They were mostly silent, both slow and clumsy. They slowly, slowly shuffled about, putting things in trunks.

“Well.” Thor spoke, finally. His voice came out rough, and… strangely bitter. He was standing by his dresser, looking at a hair clip Loki had given him decades ago. He put the clip down, with a snap. “You got what you wanted, at least.”

For a second, Loki could only blink at him, uncomprehending. The tone had been more than bitter, it was… poison. Angry. A tight kind of heat flushed him, at the accusing tone. “You think I wanted this?”

Thor tightened his jaw. “Didn’t you? That’s why you went to the temple early. You’ve always been competitive with me.”

“I-“ Loki could only stare at him a moment, before the heat began to spill out. The fucking unfairness of it! “You think I went to the temple because of you? You self-centered, egotistical-“

Thor cut him off, voice rising, almost yelling. “This is exactly what you wanted, you jealous, treacherous snake! That’s why you hid what I was from me, so you could make a public fool of me! So you could relish your victory!”

“I don’t want this!” The words tore out of Loki, louder than he expected. Loud enough to silence Thor. He didn’t care. “You arrogant bastard! I’m not an heir, I’m a tool for Odin to save face! Bad enough his first choice turned out omega, but no one could blame him for that! He’s not about to publicly announce that his alpha heir turned out unsatisfying for no reason but his own inability!” The indignity of it bubbled up, as if it had been simmering in his subconscious, just waiting for release. “I’m an heir for the next eighty years and nine months, before his next batch of heirs can come of age! And I’ll be stuck here, playing his games, until then! Do you think I want that?”

Thor was pacing restlessly, barely ten feet, back and forth, like a caged beast. His breath was hard, harsh, as if struggling with Loki’s words. Then, with a growl, Thor heaved his entire dresser over, sending things flying.

“YOU DID THIS!” He roared. “You were there, you were in my vision, distracting me! You did something, you interfered with the ritual! You tricked me into being omega! You wanted me out of your way to the throne!” Thor’s voice seemed to crack. “You wanted me out!”

Loki stared at Thor for one slow, blank moment.

Then he lunged forward, and shoved Thor back against the wall, hard, and pinned him there. “The only reason I’ve stayed this long is you!”

Thor stared at him. And his eyes slowly cleared. Neither said anything. They just stood there, pressed together against the wall. Loki dropped his head onto Thor’s shoulder, and Thor wrapped his arms around him, as their breathing returned to normal.

“Don’t go.” Loki begged, voice soft in Thor’s ear.

“Don’t stay.” Thor whispered, voice hoarse.

Neither had a choice. Odin hadn’t asked.

They stayed there, and Loki tried to memorize it. His brother, Thor, who was always just in the bedroom next to his own. His, in a way no other could have him.

His.

Loki didn’t want him to leave.

Norns, he smelled good. He smelled good, and felt good, and he was Thor! Loki’s Thor!

And he was… clearly enjoying Loki as well.

Loki’s arms around Thor relaxed, and he stroked gentle fingertips, barely touching, over Thor’s arm. He could hear Thor’s tiny hitch in his breath, which he’d only just caught from their fight.

Thor could stay, if…

Loki moved his body closer, just the slightest nudge against Thor. His heart was racing. He could… “Brother…”

Thor made a soft sound, something like panic. He shoved Loki away. “I need to pack!”

And before he entirely knew what was happening, Thor was pushing him out the door, and slamming it closed. “I need to pack!”

Loki stood outside, trying to process the last thirty minutes. The entire morning. A loud crash came from Thor’s room. Thor may have just shattered his bed.

Heir.

Alone.

Thor’s erection against his own. Thor shoving him away.

He gave up processing. He shuffled off, to at last get breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know. I’m not happy with the flow here. But... they’re both feeling very awkward and disjointed, so that’s, uh... an artistic choice! Yeah! Setting the mood!
> 
> Also, it is 7 am. Time to get some sleep.
> 
> —————
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was delayed by me Needing To Know how the book I was reading ended!

And then, he was moving. His trunks were packed, and loaded, and carted, and unloaded.

His household wasn’t far, at least. The old Gren household had been empty for just a few years, and was near his mother’s, and therefore near the palace.

He could have been carted off to the countryside, to farms, or off to a mining area. Did preservation outposts have ome-

His breath caught, just for a moment.

Omega.

Yes, he… was omega.

He wouldn’t be king. Or a warrior. He wasn’t even sure if he could go do scientific observations in the woods! He’d never wanted to before, but now the idea that he couldn’t twisted inside!

It probably wouldn’t bother him much, once he was busy with children.

He put a hand over his stomach, and his mind refused to-

He wondered why he was being kept so close. He was glad, of course, but usually omegas settled wherever a household needed to be filled. There was even a preference for sending them somewhere not too close to home, to keep things mixed up. So why was he so close?

Maybe only well-adjusted omegas were sent away. Maybe ome- people… who tried to resist being an omega were judged to be in need of a more familiar support network.

Or maybe it was simply that, like Father had said, Thor hadn’t been raised with this possibility in mind, and so Mother was going to help him. It might not be that he was being kept close to the palace; maybe he was just being kept close to Mother. Simple as that.

Or, maybe Odin wanted him close because…

His mind didn’t want to think about that, either. About ways him being OMEGA would be politically useful, or… That was Loki’s territory. Always seeing the webs of political manipulation, seeing the most cynical motives for any act. Being an omega was supposed to involve a lot of freedom, at least as much as the physical realities of near-constant pregnancy allowed. Alphas didn’t tell omegas what to do, they supported omegas in every way they could!

Thor swallowed, still getting used to thinking about ‘alphas’ as something different from himself. He didn’t feel very free. This wasn’t what he’d planned.

He was supported, at least. He’d spent the day with his mother, being shown around his new household, being introduced to barren people who were signed on to help full time, being introduced to other omegas - he already knew them, of course, he’d slept with half of them, but now he was being introduced as om-

Omega.

He’d mostly been around other omegas and barren people all day, but when they’d gone to meet Tayn in his household, anoth- an alpha had been there. Thor had meet Relana many times, had sparred with her, gone drinking with her, and never noticed how she smelled like… like sex.

And Thor had felt a new wetness between his legs.

How was he supposed to deal with this? Scents were even stronger now than they had been yesterday! It was just as well he’d been forced to acknowledge this last night, because there was no denying it now, not once he’d caught a bit of Relana’s scent! His abdomen ached with slow changes, preparing for heat, and pregnancy, and birth! Birth!

Finally, in the afternoon, his mother seemed to decide he’s had enough for the day, and excused herself, with a gentle suggestion that Thor unpack, and spend some time making sure his room was comfortable.

And so, Thor was there now. He’d gotten as far as spreading his comforter out on the bed, then… Well, he’d get up and start arranging things soon. Any minute, really. For now, he lay on the bed - his bed, now - and tried not to think about… pregnancy.

He’d be pregnant, soon. Under his hand, his abdomen moved with each breath. He tried to imagine it, swollen with child…

“Oh my. Is it really that bad?”

Thor jerked up, then grinned with relief when he saw Loki, perched in his windowsill. He felt as if he hadn’t seen Loki in weeks, rather than hours! “Aren’t you busy sitting through whatever ceremony Father has for you?” Something would have to mark Loki’s new status.

“No, I’m busy avoiding that.” Loki smirked, and slid off the windowsill, into Thor’s room. “What’s he going to do, kick me out too?”

Thor snorted. “Is that your plan, now? You can just use the door, you know. It’s not like we’re not allowed to see each other!”

“Of course, but think of the gossip! An innocent young omega, alone in their room with an alpha?” Loki made his voice high and breathy, as if he was the heroine of a historical romance. “What would people say?”

Thor wished he had something to throw at him! “Ha! They’d say ‘Good, at least that’s taken care of!’” Loki’s scent was drifting in, slowly scattering in Thor’s room. Loki and home and the training ring and the fresh outdoors and alpha, so very much alpha…

“But really, it’s not that bad, is it? Being omega?” He looked around Thor’s room. “This place looks nice. It’s big.”

“It- I’ll adjust.” He was Thor. He wasn’t going to… wail and sob over things not going to plan. He was good at adjusting his plans! Loki had certainly given him enough practice, there. “It’s just a lot to get used to.”

“But you have some time, right? You’re not showing signs of heat yet?” Loki moved in close, before Thor could even react, putting one knee on his mattress, between Thor’s knees, and leaning in close to smell him.

And bringing his own scent close.

Oh, norns…

“Yeah, uh… yeah, I think I have time. I only just-“ He closed his mouth quickly. He was not going to explain to Loki that he’d started lubricating today! He hadn’t even had time yet to… examine that.

And his body was doing it again now, just at having Loki so close.

Loki was looking at him with concern. Then he flopped diagonally onto the bed, legs draping over Thor’s. “There’s a lot of good things about being omega, you know.”

“Yeah yeah, you don’t want to be prince, just a simple life, you’re so humble, everyone heard you.” Thor flopped backward himself, getting a bit of satisfaction when Loki made a noise at the bounce of the mattress.

“Yes, but other than that.” Loki scooted closer to Thor, and started playing with his hair, as he often did. Thor’s eyes slid closed, at the familiar, comforting sensation. “You’ve always liked alphas for company. You’ve slept with lots of alphas.”

Thor grunted. “Sure, for a bit of fun. Nothing serious.”

“Of course not. You were expecting to be alpha yourself. And alphas aren’t attracted to other alphas like that. So you wouldn’t want to risk anything too serious. Perhaps, even, if there was an alpha you had… particularly strong feelings for… you might not have wanted to risk sex with them at all. Because... it would hurt too much to lose them, when you became Alpha. But now that you’re omega, you could…”

Thor opened his eyes, frowning at the ceiling. “Loki, what are you talking about?”

Loki was silent a long moment, fingers still on Thor’s hair. Then he seemed to start up again. “Oh, come on. There isn’t any alpha you had feelings for? Someone you thought maybe, if you were omega…”

“What?” Thor turned his head to face Loki, ruining whatever he’d been doing to his hair. “No. What are you talking about?” He wasn’t making any sense at all.

“Oh.” Loki blinked. Then sat up, abruptly. “Actually, I should get to that ceremony. Odin might not disinherit me, but he could certainly get unpleasant in other ways.”

“Right now? Wait, Loki-“

“No, I better hurry, I’ll have to illusion myself properly dressed as it is. Goodbye!”

“‘Goodbye’!?” Like they were acquaintances! “Hey, wait-“ But Loki was out the window again, as unbothered by the three story drop as the climb.

What had that been about?

Frowning, Thor closed his window, then noticed how thick Loki’s alpha scent was in his room.

Distractingly thick.

Well, he couldn’t figure out Loki’s strange behavior like this, head spinning with alpha scent!

He thought about the toy box one of the omegas had given him today, with a discreet wink, while his mother wasn’t looking. A ‘welcome’ present every new omega needed, she’d said.

Maybe it was time he got familiar with his new… lubricating situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	17. Chapter 17

Masturbating as an omega turned out to be a revelation.

An epiphany.

An experience beyond mortal or god!

Loki had been right! Being an omega wasn’t bad at all!

His enthusiasm cooled a bit, as his cum did, and he was willing to admit that perhaps he hadn’t experienced a higher form of consciousness… but it had still been really, really good.

Yeah. He was going to adjust to this omega thing. No problem!

The next step would be… finding an alpha to fuck. Maybe even put some thought into who he wanted to… to get him…

The next step would be going out and trying to have a normal day!

Yes. He wasn’t ready to think about having sex with an alpha. Having them pin him down. Having their lips brush against his ear, as they murmured what good, good care they would take with him. How good he smelled. Their fingers sliding into his slick, ready hole, stretching him, telling him how good and soft…

He shivered. No, he definitely wasn’t ready for that!

—————

Loki heard Thor’s voice before he saw him, as he approached the sparring grounds.

He grinned, and sped his steps. Of course, Thor wouldn’t let himself spend much time sulking! And Thor seemed to know no better way to work through emotions than with action!

Thor was standing in the arena, near the entrance, and it seemed he must have arrived not long before Loki, as the others were still circling and fussing over his new status.

Thor had always been universally popular among their peers. But there were some, inevitably, who would have respected him not as a friend, but for his power. And now, it seemed, they were eager to test the extent of that power. Loki was not surprised to see Monan, and his two barren hangers on, making fools of themselves.

“Well, I’m not fighting him! What if he’s pregnant already?” He sneered. “Can’t go around risking the health of a pregnant omega!”

Thor’s laugh was loud and genuine. Loki couldn’t hear his exact words, but he seemed to be saying that Monan wasn’t worth fighting, as he wouldn’t be a threat to Thor’s health if Thor was on the delivery bed this very moment. Then Thor ignored him, and went off to spar with friends.

Loki slipped into the stands, making no effort to catch Thor’s attention, and settled where he could watch.

Oh. Thor was golden. Shining, bright as the sun! Loki could never really look away when Thor was like this. Why would he want to?

His oblivious denial the previous evening had hurt, no denying that. But Loki had known his little fantasy of Thor returning his feelings had been unlikely; he’d been a fool to let himself get so hopeful. It didn’t change his intentions. Thor might not have thought about it the way Loki had, but the fact remained - the reason they had never slept together, or even teased at it, was because they were so close. Thor had never let himself think of Loki sexually. Once he did…

Loki let himself hope, for just a moment. They would be epic lovers, of the kind not known since before the formation of the great pack. They would rule side by side, live side by side! Everyone would know what they were to each other! Thor would never want any other!

And if he did? If he wanted Loki to bed him, and then loved him as he always had, but no more? If he went on to enjoy himself with other alphas, let himself go into heat with other alphas, bore children for other alphas?

Loki would accept it. As always, he would accept whatever pieces of Thor’s attention he could get.

But the thought made him feel small inside.

He tried to shake off the thoughts. It was wrong, the way he felt, he knew that. These desires to chase other alphas off, to- His desires toward omegas…

He understood exactly what these feelings were, and what they meant, and he knew exactly why he must never, ever lose control of them. Must never challenge another alpha over an omega. Must never let himself-

Was Fenral flirting with Thor?

He was! It cut through Loki’s thoughts, and Loki watched them, holding the growl from escaping his throat, forcing himself not to move, most especially not toward them! He would kill Fenral, he would-

NO.

He stopped the thought in its track, before it could take hold. He’d never had such difficulty suppressing this! He’d felt the urge to fight over omegas before, but it had always been easy to ignore. But now it was Thor, and-

Was Thor flirting back!?

He was! Loki couldn’t hear the words, but the body language was clear, as the two sparred. Thor was relaxing, letting that alpha talk to him like that, warming up to the idea!

Loki told himself to calm down. Of course he was! Thor enjoyed sex; he’d be eager to try it out, after an adjustment period. It was probably good for him to-

Thor and the alpha went down, and there was some brief wrestling before Thor ended on top. Straddling the alpha. Hips to hips. He smiled down at that bastard, then slowly, deliberately rocked his hips.

Loki managed to keep his snarl relatively quiet, and that was about it for his self-control, as he flung himself down, out of the stands, interrupting their farcical, horrible, wrong match!

Self-control won again, nineteen years of practice kicking in, as he managed to growl “I need to speak with you urgently!”, before he yanked Thor to his feet, and tugged the massive warrior alongside him, leaving the ring.

“Loki, what is it?” He felt Thor twist around to give that other alpha a look, and jerked them into a higher speed.

Thor’s scent started to make its way through Loki’s outrage before they even cleared the training area. It did not help.

Finally somewhere his snarling brain deemed private enough, Loki spun his unresisting brother around, and pushed him back against a wall. Then immediately lunged forward and pinned him there.

A heartbeat. He saw in Thor’s eyes, in the shape in his pants, smelled it on him, how aroused he was! Because Loki was so close? Because Loki was manhandling him, growling at him, pinning him? Or because that OTHER had touched him? Thor was breathing hard. That flirty little excuse for sparring hadn’t made him breathe hard! His hands came to rest, ever so lightly, on Loki’s side. Restraining him? Holding him?

“Loki, what-?”

“Mine!” Loki snarled. And his tone was vicious, rougher than he’d wanted it to be, because Thor was his, his, but… what if he wasn’t?

The word made Thor jerk, made his hands convulse into a squeeze, made his pupils go wide! “Oh… fuck.” He breathed the word. As if he hadn’t known. One foot slid up along the wall, lifting his knee, spreading his thighs.

OH. There could be no more waiting. Loki surged forward, and kissed him.

And THOR KISSED BACK!

Triumph blazed through Loki, setting him alight! He could fight every alpha on Asgard and every god in the heavens with this fire! He could tear down the universe and rebuild it from scratch! He could stay right here, right now, and he could kiss Thor!

His hand was clenched in Thor’s hair, he was pressed up against him, chest to chest, hips to hips, able to feel the hardness of his cock, and to smell his wet, hungry readiness. And Thor’s hands were in his back, digging in, holding him close, as if there were any possibility he might leave!

His!

He started to fumble for Thor’s clothes, and ended up tearing his pants open, which got nothing but a purr from Thor, into their wild kiss. Then Thor jerked his face away, to gasp, as Loki’s hand plunged into his damaged pants and cupped his firm, round ass. And gave it a squeeze.

“Oh fuck! Loki, please, you- Please!”

Loki chuckled, even as the words flared in him, and he gave a little tug with the hand in Thor’s hair. He wanted his Thor completely overwhelmed, needed to hear that soft, needy tone a thousand more times, for every day he’d been without! He slid his mouth to Thor’s ear, and let his lips brush against him. “Do you want me to touch you, Thor?”

A shudder of visceral need went through Thor, and Loki could feel every bit of it, pressed so close. “Norns, yes!”

Yes yes yes! The word echoed in his mind like a savage snarl. Yes! Loki didn’t bother reaching for Thor’s cock. That wasn’t what touching him meant, not anymore. Instead he slid his hand down, feeling between his cheeks, then tickled against his wet, ready entrance. “Here, brother?”

Thor whimpered, a high, helpless noise. “Fuck, Loki, that...”

Loki swirled his finger along Thor’s rim. “Do you want me to touch you here?”

“Yes! Please, yes! Please, Loki…”

He hid his face against Loki’s shoulder, and Loki remembered with delight how new Thor was to this, how his new omega needs might embarrass him. He released his grip on Thor’s hair to stroke his head instead, and made a soothing noise, and wiggled just the tip of his finger in. Thor’s breath caught.

“Oh, fuck, Loki…”

Gods! Loki pressed closer, burying his nose in Thor’s hair, thinking of nothing but the soft noises Thor made as he worked his finger slowly in, breathing nothing but his desperate scent. His, his, his Thor… Then he added a second, and got a low, overwhelmed moan, that shuddered down his spine. “So good, Thor, you’re doing so good.”

Thor’s hips were starting to rock, in small, pushing waves, back onto Loki’s fingers. “Loki…”

Yes, yes, yes! Thor was his! The scent of him, the feel of him, the beautiful, impossible sound of him! With two fingers in as far as they were going to go, given the angle, he began to focus on rubbing. On feeling Thor inside, and making his heart race. Massaging Thor, drawing more soft, desperate noises!

He was rubbing his cock against Thor’s own, nuzzling his hair, seeking Thor’s neck, to kiss and tease. “Mine!” He hissed, again. Thor whimpered. “Mine!”

He could feel the winding tension in Thor like it was his own, the tightening of coming orgasm, which would take them both. “Loki!”

He kissed Thor’s neck. “You’re doing so good. You feel so good, Thor.”

“Oh gods!” Thor was clutching him so tight he’d leave bruises, and his voice was barely a breath. “Please, please, please…”

He was so close, so close, Loki pressed closer, trapping their cocks between them, and tugged Thor’s hair, hard. “Mine!”

Thor groaned as he came, as he clamped around Loki’s fingers, and shuddered and pulsed against his body, and another wave of triumph crashed through Loki, as he set his teeth against Thor’s neck. His! He started to bite down, to clai-

NO!

He shoved away from Thor, who barely stayed upright, looking dazed. “L- Loki?”

“I’m sorry!” He stumbled a few steps back. “I didn’t mean- I didn’t… bite…” He’d nearly- “I’m sorry!”

He turned, and ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally earning that “Explicit” rating! I hope that was reasonably hot? Sex scenes used to be so much easier when I had a reliable sex drive! :/
> 
> ———
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Thor has some fantasies that could be upsetting to some people, see end notes for brief description.

He hadn’t been able to find Loki.

Not a surprise. He’d had to go back to the changing room to clean up, and change into the clothes he’d fortunately brought, which had given Loki plenty of time to get to any of his hiding places Thor hadn’t yet discovered. It had been decades since Thor had really had a chance of finding Loki when he didn’t want to be found. So he’d searched, and given up, and finally returned to the household. His household. Home, he supposed.

He didn’t have any real demands on his time right now, at least. Mother had explained to him that most new ome- OMEGAS needed an adjustment period. And why not? He wasn’t going to have a kid for almost a year, and everyone knew what heat was, and had as much of an idea of what to expect as anyone could, before experiencing it. He was moved into his new household. For now, it seemed, his duty was to wrap his head around his new status.

Dramatic romantic confusion with an alpha probably fell well into that category. So Thor couldn’t even distract himself by telling himself he had other things to focus on.

Thor flopped onto his bed. And thought. About Loki.

Loki, pushing him against that wall.

Loki, kissing him.

Loki, whispering, “So good,” and “You’re doing so good.”

A shiver ran over his skin, at that thought. That memory.

Loki’s voice, purring, asking him if he wanted to be touched “here”. Sliding his fingers in…

Thor rubbed his cock with the heal of his hand, and shied away from the thoughts, before he could get too lost in them.

It was just that… he and Loki had never been like that before. Loki was his… brother. They must have countless half-siblings, and probably lots of full siblings, and it was very likely Thor had slept with any number of them! And siblings who were raised together, who knew they were siblings, often slept together. But… other people had lots of siblings. Thor and Loki had… Thor and Loki. Only each other.

Was that normal? For them not to sleep together? Thor tried to think of what he knew of other father-sons, or father-daughters. He knew of many pairs, of course, because they were heirs to important lordships, and it was his job as future- it had been his job, as a possible future… IT HAD BEEN HIS JOB to know of lords and lords-to-be. But he wasn’t close enough to any of them to know details about their sibling relationships. All he knew was that some had their sibling still by their side, and others did not.

The only other father-son he knew well was Loki himself. And… clearly Loki hadn’t thought of Thor as sexlessly as Thor had thought of Loki. Oh! Or, had this only started since Thor’s omega scent had started coming in? Perhaps this was as new for Loki as-

Oh HEL.

Loki’s questions about Thor possibly having a crush on an alpha suddenly snapped into place, making horrible sense. What had Loki said? Something about caring about someone so much you wouldn’t risk sleeping with them, in case you both turned out to be alphas?

Fuck! Thor groaned, and put his hand on his face, just imagining how Loki must have felt at his reaction! Then squirmed on the bed, imagining how miserable Loki must have felt all that time, expecting him to be alpha, wanting him and not daring to act!

Thor couldn’t take the thought of losing any of his closeness with Loki. He hadn’t even let himself think about how this wasn’t a few nights in a strange bed, but a new home he would never return from. If he thought about how he would never be in his room next door to Loki again, never see him first thing in the morning and last at night, never-

He took a slow breath, trying to stop his racing heart. Of course Loki wouldn’t have wanted to risk sex, before. And now… he did.

Did Thor?

His mind flashed back to being pressed against that wall, Loki’s hand in his hair, voice in his ear, the intoxicating scent of him!

He was certainly horny enough for him.

Did he want… Sex with Loki certainly would be… different. He knew that, even as he tried to pin down what it meant. He had sex with lots of people. Some he met one drunken evening and barely caught the name of. Some were close friends he loved dearly. There were people he liked to have sex with more than others, because of their skill, or simply because he enjoyed their company. But Loki would be… different, somehow.

Maybe it was just that there’d been such a delay, with them. It wasn’t normal, to know someone so long, and so well, and only then start fucking them. That was probably it.

He tried to imagine sex with Loki, and his mind immediately went back to tackling him the other night, pinning him and struggling with him while Loki laughed and sang his terrible, off-key song, until Thor managed to cover his mouth. The thought filled him with warmth. They fought like that all the time. Manhandled each other. They were familiar and easy with each other’s bodies. With each other. He remembered, a thousand different times, Loki’s body in his arms, Loki’s body against his, how right it felt.

Norns. Of course he wanted to have sex with Loki. How could he not have realized it earlier?

… Maybe he hadn’t wanted to risk losing him.

But he certainly wanted to have sex with Loki. And that brought him to his next problem.

Did he want to have sex with Loki… as an omega?

Did he want to have sex with anyone as an omega?

He knew, eventually, his body would make quite certain that yes, yes he absolutely did. But the idea of it…

He’d slept with lots of alphas! He’d even been knotted, plenty of times! Not just that unpleasant time with Amora. Most alphas were gentle about it. But… it had been decades. He’d moved up the unspoken ranks of warrior sex, and long ago become someone who didn’t take a knot. A warrior of his standing did not take knots!

Now, something in his body craved it. Needed it! Desperately. And his pride fought it. Something quavering wondered if it would hurt, or turn him into a simpering, begging toy, and which would be worse.

He couldn’t take a knot! He refused to take a knot!

He wildly craved a knot.

And if he was going to have to get over his nerves and have sex like this… the idea of doing it with Loki was an incredible relief.

Yes. He wanted to have sex with Loki. he wanted to have OMEGA sex with Loki. He wanted to… have a wet, ready omega hole, and have Loki fill it, and fuck him, and kn- knot him, and…

Without realizing it, he’d picked up the shirt he’d been wearing earlier, when Loki had pinned him, and brought it to his nose, so he could breathe in the faint scent Loki had left pressed all against his front. Realms, yes… Yes, he definitely wanted Loki to pin him, and tug his hair, and finger him, and kiss his neck and-

Run away.

That memory dampered his arousal. A voice in his head that sounded too much like Loki mocked him for thinking he’d avoid thinking about that minor detail.

Running away didn’t make sense.

If Loki had lost control of himself for a moment and kissed him, perhaps. But this had been too many moments, far too deliberately strung together. It couldn’t be that.

Loki had loved him and wanted him a long time… but Thor hadn’t rejected him. Quite the opposite, clearly!

It must simply be that Loki was worried Thor was too addled by his new, rising omega hormones, and he might be taking advantage!

That was a good enough reason, and certainly the only reason Thor could think of right then, with the scent of Loki’s arousal wafting from his shirt, demanding his attention. Yes. He would talk to Loki calmly later, tell him he wasn’t clouded by hormones and knew what he was doing and then… He sniffed the shirt again. Then jump him. Solid plan. That was settled, then!

Finally free of that conundrum, Thor finally let himself start rubbing his cock through his pants, even as he ground his hips back against the mattress.

Sex as an omega. Sex with Loki! The scent made his head spin, and he opened his pants, and squirmed them off.

Norns, he was wet! That was still going to take some getting used to. His eyes slid closed, as he ran his fingertips cautiously between his thighs. He wanted… The memory of Loki pinning him against the wall flared through him. Yes, that!

Out of habit, he first tried playing with his balls, then up his shaft. But it was just a tease, a disappointment, unsatisfying. As he slid one hand into his shirt, to a nipple, his other hand slid… down.

He drew in a sharp breath, remembering Loki’s finger teasing his entrance. His purring voice. “Here, brother?”

With a soft groan, he slid his finger in, and sparks ran up his spine. Oh. He thought of his toys, tucked away, but at the moment the drawer seemed impossibly far away.

He remembered Loki pinning him against the wall. His hand tugging in his hair. And fuck, oh fuck, suddenly he didn’t need toys!

He squirmed out of his shirt, finally nude, but abandoned his nipples, instead stretching that arm above his head, wrist up, imagining Loki pinning him. Imagined that growl, softened by confidence, by Loki knowing Thor was thoroughly caught.

“You’re doing so good.” Imaginary Loki purred. He leaned close over Thor. “Such a good, pretty, sweet little omega.”

Thor felt himself flush, even as the words sent pleasure crawling over his skin.

“Look at you. Legs spread and begging for a knot. You’re not even in heat yet. You’re just the perfect little omega slut, aren’t you?”

Fuck, yes, he was so wet! He imagined Loki’s fingers sliding deeper, deeper than Thor could get his own. His fingers, stroking and stretching.

“It’s a good thing you have such a perfect, wet little hole, isn’t it, brother? What else are you good for any more? You won’t be king. You can’t even be a warrior. All you are is a good, soft, warm hole to fuck.”

Gagged. He was bound and gagged, and maybe blindfolded. Unable to do anything but lie still and feel Loki touch him. No responsibility to control this. To stop him from filling Thor with a hot, thick knot.

“I’m going to fill you so full, you sweet little slut. I’m going to fuck you raw, and pump you full of so much cum you can’t hold it all, then knot you with the biggest, thickest knot! Your tight little hole will barely be able to take it all.” Loki added more fingers, thrusting rough and hard. “But you will.”

Thor’s fingers worked faster, imagining Loki saying those things, imagining a huge knot, pulsing in him, stretching him wide! Imagined an alpha being rough, punishing him, giving him what he deserved.

“Maybe we should just strap you to a breeding bench.” Loki purred. “You’d look so pretty like that. We could tell everyone in the realm that the mighty Thor, future king, turned out to be just an omega slut.”

He imagined Loki manhandling him, rolling him onto his front, to better access his ass. To use his hole, without having to look at his face.

“All the barren people who looked up to you will line up on one end, and fuck your pretty, useless mouth. And every single alpha, who thought you would lead them, will line up to fuck your sopping wet hole, one after the other. Fucking you and knotting you and spilling their cum in your fertile little ass.”

Gods. Norns. He wanted, he wanted to be fucked, so badly, so deep, so hard!

“Because what else are you good for? What else can you do, other than take every knot in the kingdom? You’re being such a good, sweet slut, you useless failure.”

Thor shook, and sped his fingers again, feeling the burning build of coming orgasm. So close!

“And when every single other has had you, then I’ll fuck you again. I’ll fuck you last, and use magic to make sure my knot is so big, so thick-“

Loki! Loki’s thick knot! Loki’s hand around his wrist! Loki pulling his hair! Growling, growling-

“You are MINE!”

Orgasm shuddered through Thor, wracked him, made him arch off the bed. He forgot how to breathe, and may even have blacked out a moment.

Oh…

He caught his breath slowly.

Masturbating was… different. His fantasies were… very different.

As his head cleared, he felt a twinge of guilt for using Loki for that fantasy. Of course Loki would never treat him like that. Unless Thor asked him to, maybe. But Thor wouldn’t. He wouldn’t want… any of that. Not really. Not the mean parts.

He’d never had fantasies like that. But it didn’t worry him much. Fantasies of force, even degradation, were normal for lots of people. And these feelings were probably normal for new omegas, especially ex-warriors. Hel, there was probably a support group, if it kept bothering him. He yawned.

The powerful orgasm had left him sleepy, and the fog started to tug at him. Tomorrow, he’d find Loki. Figure things out. Why Loki had run.

Just before unconsciousness took him, the thought drifted into his mind. Maybe Loki had run because he’d remembered that Thor was no longer the worthy brother he had known.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING DESCRIPTION: Thor’s feeling very horny and still has some issues about being omega, so he fantasizes about Loki holding him/typing him down, gagging him, and then telling him he’s worthless except to fuck, lots of that, and suggesting they should just tie him down and let everyone on Asgard line up to fuck him. If you want to skip that, I’d read the chapter right up to about the point he takes his shirt off, then skip the rest, and pick up with just the last two paragraphs.
> 
> Hope that’s the correct summary:non-triggering ratio 😬
> 
> ———
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short one!

It was ridiculous, Loki mentally growled, for the dozenth time, that he had to play out this farce, all to maintain Odin’s dignity! For at least the next eighty years!

No one could seriously criticize Odin for Thor’s fate, of course. And one heir turning out omega was fine, that was precisely why potential heirs were raised in pairs. Both turning out to be omega, or barren, could be seen as a bad omen from the norns, but even that wasn’t taken too seriously. Alphas were rare, after all.

But to have an alpha offspring, and reject them as your heir… That could only be blamed on Odin’s incompetence in managing Loki’s upbringing and education. He could get away with it, perhaps, if Loki was recognized as simply being of bad character, if he was widely unpopular and unliked for kingship… But he wasn’t. Being in Thor’s shadow, most people knew only that he had been right at Thor’s side for their many glorious victories. Those closer to the palace knew him to be sneaky in combat, and sometimes got annoyed when they ended up on the wrong end of his tricks… but anyone mature enough to matter was mature enough not to take too much offense at a bit of cleverness.

So. He was an acceptable heir. Odin couldn’t be rid of him without a superior replacement.

And such a replacement was, even now, likely being bred. He wouldn’t use Frigga again, not after Thor and Loki had turned out so dissatisfying. At least Mother was spared more of his attentions.

Mother was free of him, Thor was free of him! They were off together, probably having a lovely day with as many friends as they wished! While Loki was here, preparing for a dinner he didn’t care about, all alone!

All alone.

The emptiness of Thor’s room throbbed in Loki’s mind, like a sound just barely too deep to hear. It followed him around the empty, golden palace, as he went about his pointless, busywork duties. As he went to meetings preparing him for a kingship he wasn’t wanted for. Alone, alone, alone.

But then again, it was probably for the best Thor was safely away from him. After what he’d nearly done the day before.

Norns.

He’d wanted Thor too deeply and too long. And he’d resisted! Then Thor had been omega, smelled omega, and that had been simply unfair, a cruel temptation he didn’t deserve. But he’d tried to resist; he truly thought he would have been able to survive that! Maybe he’s slip a bit, like dragging Thor away from that asshole he’d been sparring with, but he could keep it under control.

Then Thor had kissed back.

It was too much. Loki couldn’t survive it. It wasn’t fair for anyone, including the norns themselves, to expect him to resist that!

But he had.

Barely.

The right thing to do would be to cut Thor off. See him as little as possible. Let him set up his own life, court his alphas, have his countless children. Maybe, eighty years and nine months from now, when his replacement came of age, and he was free of this place… Maybe by then they’d have enough distance to build a new, safer kind of closeness.

That was the right thing to do. The noble thing to do.

But as Loki walked down the empty corridors, toward the pointless formal dinner, he heard a distinctive rumble of thunder and thump of impact on the balcony he was about to pass. A warm breeze drifted in, carrying Thor’s scent with it. A silhouette Loki could never mistake was visible through the gauzy curtain, stalking straight toward him.

And it hit him in the gut. And he realized, suddenly.

He didn’t actually give a fuck about being noble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	20. Chapter 20

Thor stalked out of the balcony and stopped right in front of Loki, blocking his path. As if Loki simply walking past him was a possibility.

“Brother.” Loki got out. Oh he looked… golden. Perfect. Thor. His scent was in fully, or close enough, and it hit Loki hard. His! His bold, fearless omega, who he wanted to pin down and hear beg!

“I think you can skip whatever meeting you’re going to.”

It was, of course, his duty to serve any omega in need, especially an omega who smelled like THAT. Not in heat, no, but oh… “I very much can.”

They walked swiftly, down the familiar halls, to Loki’s room. Once they were in, Loki sealed the door with a spell. He didn’t want them to be interrupted.

Thor smelled every bit like an omega badly in need of a knot.

He turned, and tried to look calm, to hold back the animal in him. Thor might have come for… oh, any number of reasons. Suppressing his instincts was a skill he’d had to practice a great deal, these last nineteen years.

Thor didn’t go to one of Loki’s chairs, around the small table, where they could talk. He went and sat, casually, on the edge of Loki’s bed.

“You left in kind of a hurry yesterday.”

Loki was pulled toward him. Tried to move casually. Indirectly. Tried to cover Thor’s lines of escape, without making it seem as if he was being trapped. A pointless instinct, but an irresistible one. “I had my reasons.”

“What are they?”

So direct. Thor needed him, needed someone who could think in tangles, if he was going to be king! But, of course… he wasn’t going to be, any more. He didn’t need Loki’s tangled mind to be an omega. “What they are is for your own good. You should leave, brother.” He wouldn’t stop him, not really. No matter what his instincts said.

Instead, sitting on Loki’s bed, eyes tracking Loki’s slow, almost circling, approach, Thor spread his legs. “No. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. And I realized things I should have figured out a long time ago. I want you to be my first, Loki. And if I go into heat, I want it to be with you.”

That stopped Loki’s pacing. Heat. Thor’s first heat. Omegas could head off most of their heats, if they wished, but they almost always hit the first one. He’d been able to think of Thor in other alphas’ beds, but… No. Thor in heat, Thor vulnerable and needy, with someone else?

Thor vulnerable and needy… with him? For days? He’d never resist.

He wanted Thor. He knew he mustn’t have Thor. He didn’t know which he was pursuing. “That… would be a very bad idea.”

Thor smirked. Then he toed his shoes off, scooted backward on Loki’s back, and flopped back, sprawling all over it. “I don’t think it would be.”

Loki was at the edge of the bed, looking down at his golden brother, spread beautifully, drinking in Loki’s own scent. Oh. Thor might be new to omega sex, but he certainly didn’t lack experience in getting a lover’s attention.

“Loki, please? Being omega, all these new urges… I feel safe with you. You have to be my first.”

A shudder passed through him. Oh yes, please! There was no other alpha, no one in this realm, who Thor would have to talk into this. But here he was, almost begging for Loki. And Loki’s knee was on the bed. He was leaning forward, spreading his hands on either side of his beautiful, beloved Thor. “There are things we should talk about.”

“I didn’t forget about knot safety. I think I’m ready.”

Loki tried to focus. That… wasn’t what he’d meant. But yes, of course, knot safety was very important, especially for a new ome-

“I tried a knotting toy, and it… felt really good.”

Loki stared at Thor, mind unraveling. Thoughts snapping. He’d… tried…

He fell on Thor, kissing him furiously. A knotting toy! Loki would have him, would knot him, his poor omega, reduced to a toy! He would do so much better, give him so much better!

Thor groaned into their kiss, and his legs went up, wrapping around Loki’s waist, pulling him in closer, and Loki buried his hands in Thor’s hair, needing to keep him close, so close!

“I will- A toy! I’m going to make you feel so good!” The words spilled out, frantic, between kisses. “So good, make you hate that stupid toy!”

Thor whimpered, hands pawing at Loki’s back and sides, trying to find the openings of his clothes. “Brother…”

“Yes, yes…” Loki made himself focus, enough, just enough to direct his magic, and rid them both of their clothes. Thor gasped.

“Oh… fuck that’s a good spell!”

Loki didn’t bother responding, kissing down Thor’s neck. Nuzzling and nipping that perfect, unmarked neck.

Thor was writhing already. “Oh, fuck, norns, gods… This feels different as an omega.” He laughed. “With you, instead of just a shirt that smells like you!”

Loki took deep breaths, trying to steady himself. A bit. This was Thor’s first, he deserved proper attention! “A shir- Oh.” Thor wanted him! Not just any alpha, it wasn’t just that he thought Loki was safe. Thor wanted him! “I- We should slow down. I don’t want to…” What? There was nothing he didn’t want. With Thor, he wanted to everything.

Thor growled, and rocked his hips up, hard. “I’m not a virgin! It’s my first time as an omega, and our first together, but I didn’t suddenly forget how to have sex!”

Loki felt like he might have. “Right.” Thor was naked under him. Also naked. His brother. He felt a brief wave of something like vertigo, as he realized how strange this was. This thing he’d wanted and couldn’t have, for so long. “I know. But I...” He’d get Thor over his nerves, and then what? He couldn’t share Thor! He’d have to let him go.

The realization sank in, cool and certain. Yes. He couldn’t share him. He couldn’t keep him. He would have to let go of him.

But he could have this time. Just this one, single time.

“I want to go slow. I want to show you how good you can feel.” He gave his smile a bit of smirk. “I told you being omega wouldn’t be all bad. I’m going to prove it.”

He could feel the shudder that went through Thor. “That sounds… Norns, Loki, we can try slow on the second round! I don’t think I’m going to last too long this time!”

Something animal flared at the contradiction. The commanding tone! Loki let a soft alpha growl out, as he grabbed Thor’s wrists and pinned them over his head. “No. We’re going slow this time.”

Thor gasped, then moaned, a helpless little noise, as his body arched in needy surrender.

Mmm. He’d learn to build up a resistance soon, but Loki felt a feral tingle of pleasure at knowing this was Thor’s first time being on the receiving end of an alpha’s dominance. The instincts for dominance and submission were faint echoes of what history books described, but they weren’t completely gone!

He grinned, as he crossed Thor’s wrists, so he could hold them with one hand, then trailed his other down, leisurely, to Thor’s wonderful, muscular thigh. Then, between his legs, to feel how very, very wet he was. “Fuck!” Thor breathed, before his legs spread wide open. “Please!”

“We have to go slow, especially this time.” Loki told him, as if lecturing a classroom. “A toy is no substitute for a real knot. I’ll have to inspect you… very, very thoroughly.” His fingers skimmed over Thor’s entrance. “To make sure you’re really ready.”

Thor groaned, and tried to push up onto his fingers. Loki obliged, giving him two right away. Oh! He was so soft and slick inside, even better than when Loki had jumped him before! His inner walls gripped at Loki, trying to drag him in, but moved easily when Loki spread his fingers.

“Mmm. You really might be ready.”

“Norns, please!” Thor wasn’t fighting his hold, but seemed to be enjoying squirming against it. “Loki!”

“You’re absolutely gorgeous like this.” He slid a third finger in, gentle, testing, and Thor groaned and arched for more. He would be glorious in heat. Debauched, demanding, shameless… Loki would have to leave the city, to keep himself from killing whatever alpha had him like that.

The city? No. He would have to leave this realm. He had to flee. If he allowed himself this one time, then ran, perhaps he would still have something to come back to someday. Perhaps there could be a future where he could be near Thor without wanting to fight every alpha who looked at him.

He bent his head to Thor’s chest, and began kissing and licking his nipples, as if tasting and smelling him would be easier to bear than seeing his golden glory. He spread his three fingers, and drank in Thor’s needy groan.

“Oh fuck, Loki! Fuck, please, I’m ready, I’m ready!”

Loki gave a chiding nip to his collarbone. “Brother, my knot is much bigger than three fingers! Come now. You’ve laughed at stories of over-eager new omegas who ended up in the healers’ ward!”

“I can take it! I can, I swear!” His legs were wide as they could go, hips rocking up, breathing urgent and desperate. His eyes were almost wild, when he found Loki’s.

Loki was able to keep control of himself through that. He wanted this to be perfect. It would be his only time. That was motivation enough to control himself!

Until Thor closed his legs around him, and hauled Loki up against him, and captured Loki in a messy, starving kiss. “Now, Loki! Fuck me!”

Gods.

After that, everything was clear and a blur at once. His hands in Thor’s hair. His mouth tasting Thor’s, kiss open-mouthed and wild. His cock, sliding into Thor.

“Brother!” Thor was gasping. “Loki!”

His hand on Thor’s cock, determined still to overwhelm him. To leave him shattered and ruined. To let him never forget this one, only time! Rocking into Thor, humping like a beast, his knot beginning to grow. 

“Yes, Loki, yes, yes…”

“Mine!”

Thor’s throat-

NO.

Dragging Thor’s hand, putting it over his mouth, squeezing it there, so Thor understood it must stay, must!

“What- Fuck!” Thor gasping, hips jerking up so hard Loki was lifted, hand squeezing around Loki’s face, crying out, thunder crashing against the window, as he came, as he locked around Loki’s knot, locked it in place, dragging Loki with him with a muffled, wild howl.

They collapsed, panting. Shaking.

Loki could feel Thor’s tremors, aftershocks of pleasure, and soaked in them like a bath. Yes. That had been… that had been excellent.

“So, you…” Thor’s voice was still breathless, a bit disoriented. “have some kind of biting kink? Or… biting denial kink? Is that why you ran yesterday? It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Sorrow began to mix with his soaking pleasure. He would have to leave, now. Until he was over Thor. If such a thing was possible. He cupped his brother’s face, trying to hoard these memories.

“Not exactly.” He was still locked into Thor. He wanted it never to end. “I… Brother, you'll have to find someone else for your first heat. I can’t stay here.”

“What?”

“I’m going to leave Asgard. Father can get other heirs.”

“Oth- How long are you going? What are you talking about? Why?”

Loki shook his head. “It’s for the best.” He stroked his thumb along Thor’s cheek, and smiled sadly, This was the right thing to do. The noble thing. He would let go of the one he loved, to-

Thor jerked him around, until he was straddling him, and pinned him. “Stop it! You’re being dramatic and solemn and… and ridiculous! Tell me what you mean!”

“Hey!” He scowled up at Thor, and tried to regather his dignity. “I just… It’s for the best. I’m not a good choice for you.”

“You know I know where you’re ticklish.”

“Don’t you- Eeee!!!” Loki struggled, laughing, as Loki went after his sides. And norns did that feel strange where they were still knotted!

“Surrender?”

“You know I- ah- never fit in here!”

“You fit HERE pretty well!” Thor squeezed himself tight around Loki’s knot.

“Oh fuck!” Loki’s vision blurred, and he clawed at the sheets.

Thor huffed a laugh. “Oh yeah, that is better than tickling.” He squeezed again, and ground himself closer against Loki.

“Oh fuck, gods, norns…”

Thor repeated the motion, harder, and reached again for Loki’s sides-

Loki slapped his hands away. “Ah! Okay, okay!” Bastard!

Thor relaxed, looking smug. “Ha. So what is this terrible, dark secret you have to run away over?”

Loki swallowed, and tried to gather his thoughts.

Thor’s hands inched pointedly back toward his sides.

“Don’t. It’s… Thor I…” He had to say it. And why not? It wouldn’t make anything worse. If Thor could accept being omega, he could admit to this. He took one more deep breath. “Thor, I’m not part of the pack.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	21. Chapter 21

Thor just blinked at him, as if uncomprehending.

Loki turned his face away. “I’m not. I don’t know why. I’ve managed to avoid forming any enemy bonds, but I can’t form pack bonds. I’ve tried, I tried so many ways…” He’d driven himself half mad. He’d left the temple, and it had become more and more obvious he was alpha, and he’d waited for those bonds to form, waited for the feeling of belonging, waited for it to finally, finally happen. And it hadn’t. Then he’d tried to force it, tried to fix it, spent years, with no pack bond, and even Thor pulling away, and nothing he’d done, nothing-

“I just can’t. I don’t know why.” He repeated the words, feeling the futility of all his trying, once again.

“Loki, that’s… Oh…” Thor melted down around him, still locked on his knot, nuzzling and kissing and comforting. And for a moment it seemed they could forget this conversation, and forget that Loki had to leave, and they could just stay and stay… “But you have to be in the pack! It must just be that you can’t feel the bond, for some reason. You are part of the pack!”

Loki sighed, and briefly closed his eyes. “Oh? What makes you think so?” He’d already gone through all his denial years ago. It would be no problem countering Thor’s.

“Well, alphas without a pack bond can’t share omegas!”

And, despite his resignation mere moments ago, the question made a growl rise in Loki’s throat. Before he realized what he was doing, he grabbed Thor, took control of him, and flipped him, pinning him under him, and felt a feral satisfaction at the way Thor moaned and squirmed in pleasure, the way he bared his throat!

Loki half took the invitation. He shoved in close, mouth against Thor’s unconscious offering. He scraped his teeth against Thor’s sensitive skin, and felt Thor shiver, heard him moan. He could have him, could take him, could KEEP him…

“No,” he growled. “We can’t.”

Thor whined.

Breath shaking with restraint, Loki kissed Thor’s neck, then pulled away. Just a few inches. All he could stand. Thor’s eyes were closed, his breathing hard, caught in his own unexpected need. He was gorgeous, and Loki wanted him, with something wild and fierce. “I’ve felt the urge to bond with every omega I’ve been with, especially during their heat. But it’s usually easy to ignore. And it gets easier, the longer the omega’s out of the temple. I think you form a kind of mating bond to the pack as a whole. An omega who takes many different lovers, who has children from many fathers, I feel almost no urge to bond at all.”

His knot was fading, he could feel it. And even with the fierce need pounding in his heart, he leaned close again, to kiss and nuzzle at Thor. He would never get this again. He would take every moment. But his knot was fading.

“You’re very social. You’ll take many lovers.” He made himself say the words, made them sound calm, as he kissed along Thor’s jaw. Drank in the way Thor’s fingers clutched at his sides. “I might not even have to be gone long. Maybe only ten years will be enough.” His knot slipped free. Loki pulled away.

“No!” Thor gasped. Thor tried to keep him close, but couldn’t stop Loki from escaping, and settling, perching, beside him. He didn’t let himself lay down, didn’t let his body commit the lie of curling against Thor’s side. Instead he half sat, propped on one arm, feeling ready to flee, if the urge to claim became too strong. Thor’s eyes stayed locked on him, his hand reached out to keep contact with him.

“I don’t know what the pack bond feels like, of course, but I think it can’t be very distinct. No one seems to really notice they don’t feel it with me. And alphas are so used to other alphas being allies, not threats. We’re all trained so carefully to avoid forming enemy bonds. No one expects a rival among them, and I’m careful to avoid pushing anyone too far.” He shook his head. “Expectation does most of the work. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the confused expressions on someone’s face, as their instincts tell them I’m wrong, then their mind and training comes in to tell them that no, of course I’m pack, I must be.” He shook his head. “I drink with them. I fight alongside them. I protect and breed their omegas. I must be pack. They always shake the feeling of wrongness off.” Or let their subconscious have it, to come out in other ways.

Thor was slowly sitting up as well. There was something pained in his movements, his expression, that made Loki want to curl up. His first alpha, the alpha he’d trusted to take care of him, had pulled away as soon as his knot allowed. All but rejected him. “Loki, that… Even if it’s true, why do you have to leave? You said yourself, you’re able to get along with the pack, right here!”

Did he need it spelled out for him? “Because I can’t share you!” The words tore from Loki, hurting his throat, hurting him. “I want to claim you, Thor! I want you to be my mate, and no one else’s! I’d have to fight anyone else who touched you!”

Thor drew in a soft gasp, and something seemed to click into place at last for him. He raised one hand slowly to his throat. “The biting. That’s what you were trying to do. To… claim me. Like… like some historical romance.”

“Like an alpha without a pack.” Loki looked down. almost not looking at Thor, without being able to quite surrender the sight of him, bare and beautiful and as much Loki’s as he ever would be.

“So do it!” Thor was suddenly moving closer, leaning in, offering, offering… “Do it! I don’t need any other alphas!”

Loki groaned, and curled in on himself at last, digging his hands into his hair. “Stop! Don’t, it’s hard enough, and you’re not thinking straight!” He never should have been Thor’s first! Thor had no bond at all to the pack alphas yet! “You wouldn’t be part of the pack either; is that what you want? And we wouldn’t be able to hide it!” He’d thought about this, of course he’d thought about this! Since the moment Thor's omega scent had tickled at him across the breakfast hall. “You belong here, you belong to the pack! Do you want to lose all that closeness? That connection?”

“I don’t want to lose you!”

“No!” Loki scrambled up, out of the bed, and stared at him from the safer, far safer, position of standing several feet away. “No. You’ve always fit in, you’ve always belonged, and you take it for granted! But look at how upset you were just to find out you weren’t an alpha, as you’d thought you would be! You can’t imagine what it would be like to not be part of the pack, to not know where you fit at all!”

“I… We’ll figure something out! Don’t leave! Please, Loki, just promise you won’t leave!”

Loki shook his head, stepping further back. “No. It’s better for you, brother.” Impossible. Impossible to resist him, except to remember that Thor did not have to share his fate. He loved Thor. He could save Thor, from this. “Do you know why I went to the temple early?”

Thor shook his head. He was holding his arm out to Loki, beseeching. He looked as if he might cry if he spoke.

Loki thought he might as well. “I didn’t fit in. I was so tired of… of not fitting in. With my magic, and my… I’m different! I don’t know why I’m different! And I thought, if I went to the temple, and I came out alpha, I thought… I’d form pack bonds. And finally I’d know I belonged!” He could barely get the words out, around the swelling in his throat. This stupid, self-pitying grief! But he had to remember. Had to remember what he could keep away from Thor! He wanted to say more, so much more, but his throat wouldn’t let him. His burning eyes wouldn’t let him.

“Loki…”

“I won’t do the same to you!” he got out. Then he decided, in one wrenching moment, that he didn’t need to pack. He didn’t need to prepare. He didn’t need clothes! He didn’t need one damn thing, except to be away from this realm, from Thor, from his desperate need to claim him. He turned, and in a moment he was a raven, flying toward the bifrost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	22. Chapter 22

“Ah, Thor! I was starting to think you’d found some particularly entertaining alpha and forgotten all about us! How is being an omega treating you? You’re in what used to be Gren’s household, right?”

Fandral’s cheeriness hit Thor’s dark mood, and simply faded against it, as he and Volstagg sat beside him at the bar. Thor stared into his beer. What did it matter?

Loki was gone. Loki had left, and Heimdall wouldn’t say where. Loki had fucked him, and knotted him, and then pulled away from him, and then left him.

Why not? Thor wasn’t going to be king. He wasn’t a great hero. He was just an omega like any other now. Of course Loki wouldn’t want to end up bonded to him.

Fandral and Volstagg were talking, with a worried, forced cheerfulness. Thor could almost feel Sif and Hogun’s eyes burning into his back, from their nearby table. He stared at his beer. Was it getting lower? He wasn’t sure.

“What do you know about mating bonds?”

That cut off their attempts to cheer him up.

After a startled moment, Fandral grunted. “Just what everyone does, I guess. It was how alphas and omegas organized themselves before the pack.”

“And you… you can’t have both, right?” Thor still didn’t look at them, running his fingers around the sides of his drink. “I mean, you two, you prefer each other, but you’re not… bonded.”

Volstagg huffed a laugh. “No! Not in that sense! Fandral has had many partners that aren’t me, and I never want to…” He waved his hand vaguely. “growl, or whatever it is alphas do in romance novels! In fact, his latest isn’t from me!” Volstagg leaned forward, wrapping a loving arm around Fandral, putting a protective hand over Fandral’s still-flat belly. “This is from... Oh…”

“Loki, most likely.” Fandral said, smiling and leaning into Volstagg’s embrace.

Loki. Loki, who’d been getting along just fine, until Thor. Except he hadn’t been. He’d been lonely, hurting, thinking he wasn’t pack… “And that’s okay, because Loki’s pack.”

“Exactly!”

Thor finally lifted his drink, and took a big swallow. “And he is, isn’t he? You feel a pack bond with him, don’t you?”

Volstagg cleared his throat, and shifted on his seat. “Loki is pack. What is this all about, lad? You didn’t go and sleep with some offworld alpha, did you?”

Thor ignored the question, attention caught far more by Volstagg’s evasiveness. “No. What do you mean, ‘Loki is pack’? Do you feel a pack bond with him or not?”

Volstagg suddenly picked up his own drink, and took a long gulp of it, but Thor was still staring at him when he put it down, and Fandral was looking back and forth between them.

“Ah. Well. The pack bond varies from person to person. You meet some of those country alphas, who hardly ever come into the city, and you’ll barely feel it! It’s strongest with alphas you know well. People you fight side by side with, drink with-“

“Like Loki.”

“Well…” Volstagg shifted uncomfortably. “Well, no. I’ve just never really felt it with him. Not sure why. He- He’s always been a bit odd, though. And that’s just me. It hardly means he’s not pack! I’m sure other alphas feel it just fine.” In a sudden effort to assert cheerfulness, Volstagg mussed Fandral’s hair. “Fandral, omegas can tell a pack alpha from a stranger! You know Loki’s pack!” He laughed. “I should hope so, since he gave you your latest pregnancy!”

“Of course Loki’s pack!” Fandral looked at Thor, then his eyes shifted away. “He’s just a bit different. Sleeping with him always has a kind of… forbidden thrill, you know? I know for a fact other omegas feel the same. But-“ He smiled, awkwardly. “That’s just because he’s so strange, you know? Different. With his magic.”

“Other people do magic!” Thor burst out. It was suddenly occurring to him how often he’d heard that, over the decades. Different Loki, strange Loki, with his magic, and his… strangeness. It was always there, hovering, since long before Loki had been to the temple. Some way that Loki just didn’t quite fit. “Odin does magic! Frigga does magic! Asgard has dozens of powerful sorcerers, and hundreds of people who dabble! Doing magic doesn’t make Loki different!”

“No.” Fandral looked unhappy, shoulders hunching in on himself. “No, of course it doesn’t.”

“But he is different, isn’t he?” Thor felt that cracking, tearing feeling again. The one that seemed to have taken up residence in his chest, ever since Loki had stood so many feet away from him, explaining why he had to leave..

Volstagg was running a soothing hand up and down Fandral’s arm. “He’s one of us, that’s all that matters. If he truly… Whatever his difference is, if he can’t form pack bonds, it hardly matters. He lives with us, fights with us. Cares for our omegas.” He gave Fandral’s arm a gentle squeeze. “Bonds or no, he’s pack.”

Thor swallowed, and looked back into his half empty beer. Loki did belong here! He didn’t have to feel alone!

But he did. And he’d left. Alone. “But what about mating bonds?”

A moment of silence. “What about them?” Fandral finally echoed. “We don’t form them, because… we… Are you saying Loki- Fuck, Thor! Did Loki try to-“ Fandral was in his space immediately, hands on his shoulders, searching his face, as if he could see a mating bond there.

Thor tried to squirm back from the sudden grabbing. “No! But so what if he did?”

“So what? Mating bonds are what caused all the trouble, before the pack! Omegas practically held captive by alphas, alphas fighting each other…”

Volstagg nodded. “You feel it, when you’re around offworld alphas. Especially if omegas are with you. That need to bare your teeth and fight them rises up, no matter how many millennia have passed!”

Fandral was still searching Thor’s face. “You’ll never really feel comfortable around other alphas. You’ll see, next time you meet offworlders. It’s tense, it’s exhausting, you’re always on guard…”

“You seem pretty comfortable with Loki!” They were saying all the things Loki had said, saying a mating bond would be a bad idea, and… and Fandral got to fuck Loki as much as he liked!

Fandral cleared his throat. “A rare exception, if he really isn’t pack. He acts like pack, he’s socially accepted as pack, I know him well… and he still has a thrill of danger to him.”

“Even if you got over that, and felt comfortable around pack alphas, you’d never be able to sleep with them! Not without Loki trying to kill them, anyway. You’d have one partner, only, for life!”

Thor swallowed, hunching over his beer again. That was… hard to think about. Sex was such a big part of social life. He’d been busy with this… omega thing, lately, but normally he was in and out of his friends’ beds all the time. Did he want to lose that? That closeness?

That feeling of belonging?

It was a strange, lonely thought, and it made his stomach hurt. Then hurt more for Loki.

But, right now at least, he also didn’t want to sleep with anyone but Loki. The thought made him feel just as cold and lonely as the thought of not being part of the pack did.

“What about the omega side of the bond? You always hear about territorial alphas, and alphas biting…” Archaic. Ancient. It didn’t feel like a real thing real people did. Biting? But Loki had wanted to! “What about omegas? Don’t we form a bond to alphas?”

Fandral and Volstagg looked at each other. And grimaced. “I don’t know.” Fandral sounded hesitant. “I don’t think so, but how accurate are those romances, anyway? Maybe?”

Volstagg suddenly slapped a hand on the table, with a determined huff. “One thing at a time. We can worry about Loki later. You’re new to being omega, it’s a confusing process… Best thing we can do is get you laid!”

Thor smiled weakly at his friend. “Don’t know if I’m in the mood.”

“Exactly why you need to get laid! I take it all this is because you bedded Loki? Well, if he’s really not pack, no wonder you’re feeling strange! You need a good fucking from a pack alpha! Maybe a small orgy!” Volstagg nodded, decisive. “We’ll get this sorted out before your heat.”

Fandral put a firm, reassuring hand on Thor. “It’s a good idea; you’ll feel better!”

Maybe he would. At the moment he felt like he might throw up if an alpha tried to touch him. “Yeah, alright.”

“Good! Now I assume you haven’t suddenly forgotten how to flirt?” Fandral leaned close, mimicking paternal confidentiality. “Do you need help out there, young man?”

“Ha ha.” Thor pushed him back, smiling. “No, I think I can manage to get laid all on my own!”

But as soon as he waded into the crowd, he felt lost. Uncertain. The scents were overwhelming. How did omegas flirt, anyway? Omegas didn’t have to wait for someone else, he could make the first move, like he usually did!

He scanned the tavern, looking for someone who sparked that… that hunger and want he’d always felt before. The alpha scents weren’t enticing, they were… too thick, making his head spin. Maybe he should just ask Volstagg. They didn’t usually sleep together, but it wasn’t unprecedented. And he certainly was pack.

Yes. He’d ask Volstagg. Get a nice, steady service fuck, to clear his head. Then figure out what to do about Loki! He could probably get his location out of Heimdall if he wasn’t feeling so unsteady.

He turned, to head back to his friends-

And bumped straight into someone whose alpha scent filled his lungs. She caught his arm, automatically steadying him. “Oh. Look who turned out to be omega after all.”

A rough growl seemed to rise in his throat before he knew why. Then his mind caught up.

Amora!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	23. Chapter 23

“The mighty Thor, crown prince, sure to be a great warrior… an omega. I like it. You’re too pretty to be a warrior. You would be wasted on the battlefield.”

Thor fought down the desire to snarl. Or drop to his knees. Fuck, his omega instincts really were coming in. Instead he leaned forward very slightly, and pointedly sniffed. An unnecessary gesture; he could pick up her scent easily, as unpleasant as it was. “Hmm. And you still smell like someone I definitely don’t want to fuck. Maybe it’s just you. Excuse me.” He started to go around her.

But she tightened her grip on his arm, and it sent a sharp, almost electric wave through Thor. Alpha. Holding him! His body froze.

Omegas, on a whole, got over their instinctive need to submit to alphas pretty quickly. But it seemed that wave of pleasant domination that had crashed over him with Loki had been just the beginning of this new part of being an omega.

“Oh Thor. We both know I small like exactly like someone you want to fuck. Any alpha does. But I’m the one who was lucky enough to find you out here…” She put her other hand on Thor’s captured arm, and drew her fingers lightly, teasingly, up his inner wrist. Thor shivered. “searching for someone willing to take you in hand.”

Her touch was maddeningly good, but no, her scent was wrong. Every alpha scent out here was cloying, overwhelming, somehow stressful! He scowled at her, and clenched his fist in her grip. “I don’t think you’re up to the task, Amora.”

She stepped more solidly in front of him, blocking his path, body language a clear command. “Oh, dear, everyone gets nervous.” She shifted forward, forcing Thor to move back to avoid contact. He did not want contact. “You like to think of yourself as the big strong alpha, always in charge, but you’re not anymore. It’s a change. But you’ll come to enjoy it.” Her lips quirked up, somehow suggesting ‘Whether you like it or not.’

He didn’t like her backing him up. She smelled wrong. She smelled wrong! He wanted out of this crowd. He could smell alphas in every direction. Surrounding him. He needed to escape! He tried to slip past her again, this time headed for the door. He didn’t want to rejoin his friends; he needed out!

“Wait a minute!” She moved to hold him, stop him-

“What’s going on? Everything okay?” Someone else. Another alpha, Thor could smell her, recognized her from sparring. “Back off, Amora!”

She leaned around Thor to push Amora back, pressing against him in the process, putting a reassuring hand on his back-

“Get off me!” His elbow struck her hard in the chest, almost knocking her off her feet, and he jerked himself back, away, trying to get away.

He remembered another alpha yelling something, as he caught Thor from behind. Remembered throwing punches. Remembered the wrong wrong wrong scent piling on him, as he fought and struggled and tried to escape.

He remembered an arm across his throat. A voice yelling for him to calm down. Darkness closing in.

And the wrong scent all around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	24. Chapter 24

Thor woke slowly, disoriented, pulled up by voices.

His mother. What was Frigga doing here? And a voice he recognized, he thought he knew them…

Oh. He was in his new room. That’s why Mother was here. His household. Yes, he was rejected from the palace, omega…

Deneth. Omega scholar. That was the other voice. That was why he knew her. She studied in the palace sometimes. And she consulted with the healers on omega issues.

He was an omega issue. His sleepy mind thought it. He didn’t know what it meant. Had he been drugged?

He felt drugged.

At the realization, warrior defiance rose up, trying to fight the heavy sleepiness. But it was drugged too.

He clung to the words, tried to climb them, like flotsam in the ocean.

“It’s rare, but it can happen to some omegas. Especially those that get nervous about sex. He’ll feel much better after heat. It would be best if an alpha he trusts greatly, someone experienced, could be found to spend his first heat with him.”

Loki. He wanted to spend his heat with Loki. Was Loki here?

“My son has never been nervous about sex, Deneth. I’m certain he hasn’t been waiting on heat. Just as I’m certain he is aware of that tavern’s reputation as a place for alphas to find partners. He panicked and tried to fight a dozen of them. That was not simple nerves.”

Deneth made a soft noise, as if a helpless shrug. Thor tried to cling on to consciousness. He needed to hear. Was he dreaming?

“If not nerves, the only other thing that might cause an omega to panic around alphas like that is if they were from another pack, or bonded, or something. If they weren’t the right alphas.” Deneth made a soft huff, acknowledging the ridiculousness of that explanation. “He hasn’t been around any offworld alphas, has he? Anyone outside the pack he might have suddenly bonded to?”

There was a long silence. Thor struggled to stay awake. Had he already fallen asleep? How much time had passed?

Then, his mother’s voice, just as Thor slipped underneath again. “We need to find Loki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short one! Things are about to kick up for these two 😬
> 
> ———
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a little bit longer because my brain was interrupted by the need to write some very important Thorki breadfucking.

Loki slid his coins into the center of the table, eyes locked on the dwarf across from him, who watched his every move. The cards were dealt to a tense silence around their little table, even as around them people bustled and talked and laughed.

There was enough riding on this hand to buy Loki a ship.

A big ship. Wonderfully built and fully stocked. Perfect for long-term, long distance space travel, He had the model picked out. He had a winning card of hands. All he had to do was finish this game, and then…

Then he’d leave.

The realms.

Space was big enough, outside the realms, that he might never hear of Asgard again. There were whole civilizations, even, without alphas, or omegas, or packs. He could start a new life, far, far away from here.

His idea of returning in a few years or decades, after he lost his desire for Thor, was pure nonsense. That would never happen. And if it did, he would have no reason to return.

Yes. The sooner he was gone, the better. The longer he stayed here, the more it tormented him. Imagining changing his mind. Imagining Thor wheedling his location out of Heimdall, and coming after him.

His own mind had tricked him before. His treacherous tongue had blurted out ‘Nidavellir’ to Heimdall, when he’d fled. Nidavellir! Realm of the dwarves. A realm Loki inevitably stood out on, where he could never hope to hide!

But no matter. He would win this hand of cards. He would buy his ship. And off he would go, to never see Asgard or its inhabitants again.

All he had to do was win this hand of cards. He took his turn, then waited for play to come around again.

Just win-

His fingers loosened. And his cards slipped free, to slap down onto the table. Face up.

He cursed. He grabbed his cards. The dwarves shouted. As he grasped his cards back to him, there was much reshuffling of hands, as his competitors adjusted their strategy to overcome his otherwise deadly hand. A few of them laughed at him, in good-natured triumph. Loki’s chances of winning were ruined.

Traitorous. Fucking. Fingers.

After that, of course, he lost. It didn’t take long, at least. He declined another round, and left the bar, slipping into the cool, quiet night.

He looked up at the stars. He knew the stars of every sky in the realms, of course. He knew exactly which one Asgard circled, and his eyes found it.

He would go so far he would not see it.

“Sir.”

He spun, back straightening at the Asgardian voice, the formal tone. His hands twisted to cast a spell to blind them, while he made his escape, but…

Mother’s. They were two alphas Loki knew were trusted favorites of his mother.

Not Thor’s. Not Odin’s.

He relaxed. Mostly. He nodded respectfully. “Ranet. Dra.”

“My prince. Lady Frigga has sent us to find you. She begs you to return home.”

He swallowed, and looked away. “I can’t do that, I’m afraid. Please send my mother my regrets.” His mother. Thor’s mother. They had been raised as Odin’s son, but it was Frigga who had taught Loki magic. He had spent so much time with her, learning from her, wishing she was his primary parent, instead of Odin…

But she had to know why he was doing this! They had never discussed his inability to pack bond, but there had been enough hints in their conversations, and Frigga was not one to miss things! She would know! And she would know why he had to leave!

“Sir, Lady Frigga informed us that it is urgent and vital. You must return at once!”

Loki started to shake his head, but Ranet barreled on.

“She said to inform you that Prin- that Thor’s health is in danger. She told us to tell you this was not a matter of simply being upset. It is vital you return, as you love your brother, and wish the best for him!”

Loki stared at the alpha, trying to take in the words. No mere upset? Mother was pack, she would understand that it was best for Thor to stay. She wouldn’t lie to him to bring him back, overruling his own decision, just to mend Thor’s momentary heartbreak.

“Please, sir. Lady Frigga seemed very concerned about speed.”

That made up his mind. Frigga was a woman of deliberation. When she moved quickly, she had cause. “Yes. Let’s go.” He strode toward them, and they turned, leading him back to the empty patch of land nearby, where they could safely take the bifrost.

Back. Back to Thor. Thor needed him! Why?

His heart tried to spin fantasies of Thor’s love overpowering even his ties to Asgard and the pack, but he knew that was foolish, childish dreaming. Perhaps Thor had simply been bitten by a Muspelheimian spider. Loki was especially skilled at the magic needed to treat such fire. But why would her alphas not have said so at once, then?

He did not have long to wonder, as rainbow light engulfed them, and soon they were back, in the bifrost chamber.

It was not empty.

“It’s him!” Someone cried the words. Loki didn’t see who, as he tried to take in the warriors surrounding them. Odin was there, turning away from Heimdall to face him! What was this?

Ranet moved quickly, taking a defensive position before him, and he heard Dra do the same at his back. “We were sent to retrieve Prince Loki for the Lady Frigga!”

Odin ignored the words. “Loki, you are being taken into custody, until the disorder you have caused can be put right!”

What disorder? Sleeping with Thor? He hadn’t bitten him! He kept looking around at the encircling alphas. And he suddenly felt just how much a part of their pack he wasn’t. How, whether they knew it or not, their unconscious minds could sense that he was more than fair game for attack. He wanted to fight. But he had no chance, he knew. Far better to surrender.

He wasn’t given the choice.

Odin watched him, grimly, then made a small gesture. “Take him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Odin is the wooooorst.
> 
> ———
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	26. Chapter 26

What it came down to, at its core, was simple: The pack was not used to sharing.

They had never been good at sharing. Their packless ancestors, not so many generations ago, had been often forced to endure sharing, and even then, they had been so bad at it they had nearly torn their world apart. They had undergone the massive, society-shaping shift of turning themselves into a single pack because they simply could not bear to share their omegas.

More to the point, they did not want to.

They kept their omegas at home, on Asgard. Because the drive to protect them was powerful. Because they were usually pregnant. Because they could not devote the time to training that alphas and the barren did. And perhaps it had been so long that they weren’t even aware: because offworld, omegas might meet other alphas. And the pack alphas could not bear it.

Would not bear it.

Thor was golden. Perfect. He would have been king, if he’d been alpha. And yet, the norns had made him omega. Against his obvious inclinations and will. Such a thing could only mean that it was important to the norns that he be omega. It was important to the pack that he be omega.

They would not share him.

With instincts just as strong as an omega’s heat, they could not share him. He was theirs. Of course he was theirs.

The throne room was crowded. It seemed like every alpha in the city was there, every advisor, every omega bold enough to wade into such an agitated alpha crowd. The noise was deafening.

Thor, still somewhat drugged, snarled at the omega expert, the historian, and the sorcerer who had been summed to explain his unacceptable panic in the presence of alphas. They ignored him, hovering over him, examining him clinically.

Fargeth, the sorcerer, stepped back abruptly. “Your highness,” His voice rose over the din. “I can confirm Lady Deneth’s diagnosis. He cannot willingly submit to pack alphas because he has already bonded to someone outside the pack.”

A gasp ran through the crowd. But the conversation quieted, everyone yearning to hear more.

Odin, on his throne, scowled ever more deeply. “An omega bond? How is such a thing possible?” It was not a turn of phrase, to express wonder or surprise. It was a demand. His one eye fell hard on the historian.

She stepped forward quickly. “It is, your highness. It would not even be unusual; quite common, among our pre-pack ancestors. An alpha bond requires a bite during mating. It’s dramatic, and easily distinguished by a visual mark, and so it is what is focused on in stories, even contemporary to the time. However, every mating bond in fact consisted of two parts! The omega side of the mating bond is invisible, and emotionally formed, but just as vital to bonding, and fertility.”

Bonded. Thor turned it over, drawing a slow, deep breath. The word made… absolute sense. That was it! That was this feeling! For a moment, Thor wanted to smile, to laugh out loud, at finally understanding. He was bonded! To Loki! These alphas felt wrong, smelled wrong, because they were! And now he knew!

The warm feeling was broken by Odin's next demand.

“Can it be broken?”

“Yes, your highness!” The historian was talking horribly fast, eager to reassure. Almost too fast for Thor to follow the sick implications. “Quite easily! It was done all the time, in pre-pack days. Warring groups would kill the alphas of their enemy pack, then take the omegas for themselves. It could take some time, but after sufficient attempts at breeding, and especially shared heat, the omega would form a new bond to the new alphas.”

There was a murmur of relief through the crowd. Nodding. Thor snarled.

“That’s rape! You’re talking about raping me into submission!” He stared up at his father, who didn’t blink, then glared out, around the crowd. “Is that what all your protection and care for omegas leads to? Submit or be raped?” He surveyed them slowly, sternly. Shaming them. Letting them see the barbarity of their-

Someone snickered. It sent out a wave of awkward giggles.

The reaction made Thor squirm inside, even as he tried not to show it. Tried to keep his eyes stern. Drugged or not, he had always known how to lead a crowd! How to inspire, to command, to, if necessary, shame! He had always been someone to look up to! He had always commanded respect!

Before he was omega.

He remembered, suddenly, Odin’s simple dismissal, when Thor had tried to argue for his right to continue as warrior and heir. Right here in this throne room. His chest felt tight. It was harder to breathe.

“No, Thor.” Deneth put a hand on his arm, and smiled gently. “It may have been, in those ancient days, but we are not warring tribes! You are not a captured war prize! You are an omega of our pack. You simply need some help correcting an accidental bond you formed. Just like the therapy alphas get if they accidentally form an enemy bond! Therapy can often be difficult, or uncomfortable, but it’s necessary so you can be comfortable with pack alphas.”

Thor stepped back, jerking his arm away from Deneth’s touch. It made his head spin. Damn those drugs to a thousand hells! “It is rape if I refuse.” I spoke loudly. Clearly. Trying to sound calm and certain, not frightened. Not dismissable. “I do not submit to this therapy. I will not-“

Odin cut him off as if he had never spoken. “You said this was done after their alphas were killed. Is that necessary?”

Thor stared up at him, new fear flooding in, with this drowning, suffocating feeling of being unheard. Killed? His head snapped around to the historian.

She burbled into too-fast speech again. “That depends, your highness! If the alpha has formed their end of the bond, then yes. If they have not, then merely separating them should be sufficient. However, a bite mark, or lack thereof, is not a perfect indicator of an alpha bond. To be completely certain, the alpha would need to be brought here. I believe Lord Fargeth…” She looked up at him.

Fargeth nodded sharply. “I will be able to determine if the bond is two-sided, yes. But we would indeed need the alpha brought here. Do we know, your highness, who it is? How Thor was exposed to an offworld alpha?”

“It… It was a traveller. I didn’t know them!” Thor tried, desperately. This time his voice did feel small, even before he was ignored. Loki… No, no, no…

“I know.” Odin rose. His voice boomed. Like he was putting on a show. Like he’d known from the start.

No, no, no… “Father!”

“And I know exactly how this came to pass.” He turned his head to his guards. “Bring in the prisoner!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	27. Chapter 27

Loki was dragged before the throne in chains.

He wanted to laugh, but- 

But no. Why not? What had trying so, so hard to be good gotten him?

He laughed. He stood straight in his chains, and laughed at Odin, and he delighted at the uncertain quiet that fell around him. “You crowned me your heir mere days ago.” He’d been a useful placeholder then. A way for Odin to save face. Now he would be the sacrifice, to prove Odin’s ability to keep and protect the pack.

He heard Thor, shouting his name. Heard sounds of a struggle. He ignored it. Refused to look. Better for Thor, if he didn’t.

He’d heard what they had said about Thor. Bonded! He knew, now, why Mother had summoned him back. Why Odin had intercepted him. He had run too late. His inability to form a pack bond had finally caught up to him. And because he had been so foolish, so sentimental, he was going to take Thor down with him!

He should have left as soon as he picked up Thor’s omega scent. He should have stood from that breakfast table, and walked away, and never seen Thor again. Anything to save Thor from this.

Because Odin could not allow one of their omegas to be stolen away from the pack. Least of all an omega like Thor, golden and powerful. They would have a generation of warriors like no other, with him! To let Thor be taken away from the pack would be intolerable, against alphas’ most basic, powerful drives. He might even be overthrown, for such a failure!

It was an entertaining thought. But Loki knew, all too well, that Odin would never allow it to come to that. He would never allow Thor to be taken away.

Odin regarded him from his throne. His one eye was cold, unsympathetic. Loki had wondered, sometimes, if Odin perhaps did harbor some parental warmth for them, buried under his need to be king. If he had, it was buried too deep for Loki to see even a hint of it.

“Naming you as my heir was only the last of a long list of mistakes I made in regards to you, Loki.” He stood, and raised his voice in kingly address, to all in the throne room.

Loki felt something cold in him. This was it. He would be sentenced to death. Couldn’t they at least take Thor away? They still claimed Thor as their own; wouldn’t they at least spare him this? Was rape not punishment enough for an omega who strayed?

“You are witnessing,” Odin boomed, “the end of a fool’s effort. Years ago, I sought a way to bring war with Jotunheim to a permanent end.”

What?

“I set out to discover if the frost giants could be brought into our pack.”

The crowd murmured. Outrage. Intrigue. Where was he going with this?

“And so, I took an abandoned infant. A runt. And I raised it among us. Raised it to believe itself one of us.”

No. What was he saying? No, no, no!

“But Jotun treachery runs too deep. They are incapable of forming pack bonds! And even when accepted, when welcomed to live among us, they are incapable of avoiding their instinct for treachery and betrayal! Their instinct to steal and soil what is best!”

Loki was shaking. He didn’t… He wasn’t… No…

Odin turned to face him, and speak to him directly. His voice was too loud, far too loud, monstrous, thunderous. Loki was frozen, couldn’t even put his hands over his ears and hide like a child. “Loki. You are no longer my heir, and I disclaim you as my son. You are as you were born: Laufeyson, of Jotunheim!”

“No!”

The single word escaped him. He finally unfroze. He was burning! His skin!

He looked down, holding out his hands, horror devouring him, drowning him.

His burning, too hot skin was bright Jotun blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a while because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to bring up Loki being Jotun. On the one hand, it’s important! It’s why he never fit in, even before being an alpha! On the other hand, how much can to poor boy take?
> 
> But, well, let’s pile on some angst!
> 
> Hope it’s decent; there was a lot of over-thinking going on here. 😬
> 
> ———
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	28. Chapter 28

Thor stared at his wall, from his bed.

He’d been drugged again. That thought came through the static.

This wasn’t his bed. His wall. His room. Not even his old room.

Security. The thought made it through. This room had no windows. He could tell by the light, without moving an inch through the static. Harder to escape.

Harder to… Because… Escape. Thor wanted to escape.

The thought made his heart pick up. He tried to push against the static. He dug through his memories, trying to build coherence.

Loki. Loki blue.

He’d seen that. Loki in Jotun skin, looking horrified at his own hands. The noise had been like a battlefield. People yelling, none of it important. He’d heard someone yell to muzzle Loki, so he didn’t bite.

The bond. That was it. They’d dragged Loki over. Thor wasn’t sure what he’d been doing. Yelling? Fighting? Frozen? He just remembered he needed to see Loki, needed to look at his face, meet his eyes, he needed to see that this strange Jotun was still him! He needed to see him, touch him, he needed him, let go!

He remembered catching Loki. The guard must have meant to push him to the ground at the sorcerer’s feet, to be tested. Thor hadn’t noticed at the time. He’d just caught him.

Loki had been tense. Panic tightening his body. But he’d fought only to pull away from Thor, refused to turn his face to Thor, he needed to see, he needed to see, he needed to see him!

He had. He remembered that. Disjointed memories. Loki staring up at the sorcerer. It was Loki. It was him.

Then the sorcerer said Loki wasn’t bonded to him.

It hurt. It shouldn’t hurt. It meant Loki would live. Bonded would have been worse. And it wasn’t that Loki didn’t want to. Loki had forced himself to stop. Had fled Asgard because he wanted to bond to Thor so badly. He knew that. He’d known that then. Remembered knowing it now.

Remembered how hearing that Loki wasn’t bonded to him in return had stabbed at him. Torn at his heart.

One moment. One flash of memory. Loki looking right at him, clutching one of Thor’s hands in both of his, as if urgently trying to give him something. The guards pulling him away.

Lightning crawling over his skin. His father’s voice booming something he didn’t hear. He remembered trying to fight his way to Loki. He was young, but he was mighty! He could fight warriors three times his own age!

Much good that did him, when he was only one hundred years old.

They must have drugged him again then. He didn’t remember any end to his fighting. Just dizziness.

He tried to sift through his memories for more. There had been… Volstagg. And Sif.

Yes. He tried to pull the memory up. He’d seen them, and known it was important, but hadn’t been able to think about it at the time. Everything had been chaos. Loki had been replaced with a Jotun. He’d needed to see him! Nothing else mattered!

But something had. He’d seen them. Fighting at the door. Trying to force their way in. He hadn’t seen Hogun and Fandral, but they must have been there as well.

Trying to fight their way in. Taking advantage of this panic and chaos Loki’s Jotun blue skin had caused.

Had they been trying to rescue him?

Or Loki? Or both?

It made sense. Thor convinced his heavy, foggy body to roll onto his back, at this revelation. His friends had been fighting for him.

The pack had been fighting among itself. Over an omega.

Oh, no. The sick implications sank in, slowly. And it finally dragged his situation home to Thor. A full realization of it.

Thor may have much preferred to be a warrior, but he’d spent his entire life training to be a king. The political view of the situation finally roused in his mind. The power. The public view.

Odin had brought in one non-pack alpha… and look what had happened. A stolen omega. Fighting within the pack. A breakdown of the peace they had held for generations.

It could never be allowed.

He tried to think that through. His mind was still fog-heavy. He had to go slow and careful.

He’d still thought, without really thinking about it, that if he could just calmly explain the situation to Father, just speak to him, everything would be fine. Loki had been getting along with the pack for years! So they would have one little monogamist bond… they could still live among the pack! Their children would be raised among the pack, and would surely join it when they came of age!

His mind tried to ramble off track at that tangent, as he carefully laid the thought. Would they? Would they join the pack, if they weren’t born of it? It must be possible, or how was the pack originally formed? But what if some couldn’t, just like Loki? And oh, what of the children Loki had already sired among pack omegas, for the last nineteen years?

What if they ended up growing? A non-pack little bundle in the middle of the pack. A tumor, growing and spreading, sucking life from the pack the bigger it got.

And what of new alphas, not yet properly bonded to the pack? How many, at this romantic example, would find themselves love-struck by some omega and suddenly consider that perhaps they’d prefer a mating bond to a pack bond after all?

Chaos. Destruction. Their society would crumble. One non-pack alpha, eager to be inconspicuous, might be able to get along for a time. But two? Several? How many, before fighting over omegas was common again? Before alphas tried to keep their mates home, safe from other alphas?

It could never be allowed.

And, following almost at once, the realization of what this meant to him, personally.

He was going to be raped. He was going to be brought back into the pack. They might be gentle. They might say it was therapy. But if he didn’t submit to it, they were going to make it happen anyway.

No. His mind scrambled, though even that was foggy and clumsy. No. They could leave. They’d leave Asgard together, never bother the pack! They’d be a cautionary tale, and no more!

Too late. Maybe if they’d left earlier. Maybe if they’d headed this off, spoken quietly to a few members of the council, handled this all with discretion. They might not even have had to flee, with fear of pursuit. They might have gotten permission.

It would have been a stretch. Thor hated to think of it, but knew he was valuable breeding stock. He would be mother to powerful warriors. And if anyone found out Loki was Jotun… A Jotun running off with the would-have-been-king omega… It didn’t look good. But they might have had a chance.

But not now. Not after that scene in the throne room. Letting them go would be a sign of weakness now.

Thor curled onto his side again, and tried not to imagine being- what was going to happen to him.

Loki was alive. That was important. Maybe, once Thor was pack again, Loki would even be allowed to go free. Away from Asgard.

He wasn’t bonded to Thor, after all.

Thor curled into a tighter ball. It was good. It was what he’d wanted anyway. Thor in the pack, Loki wandering off through the stars. Being Jotun wouldn’t matter, out there. He’d find new people, he was young. Asgard, and Thor, would just be a wild story of his childhood.

Thor felt tears well, which was stupid, and unnecessary, and certainly the drugs’ fault! It was fine! Loki would leave, and never think of him again, and be free of him, the stupid omega who’d actually bonded to him without even a bite!

The stupid omega who hadn’t even realized he was omega; of course he’d been stupid enough to bond! The worthless omega who thought he’d be a king, a warrior, and not just a breeder for real warriors!

The tears started pouring out, wracking him, as he imagined how much better off Loki would be, after Thor was fucked back into the pack. Into his place. How Loki would be free and happy without him. A sob tore his throat. It was the stupid drugs, making him cry as he imagined Loki finding another, someone actually worth bonding to.

How happy he would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst! Angst for your supper!
> 
> ———
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	29. Chapter 29

Deneth, the omega expert, sat across from Thor in his temporary room. They were about ten minutes into their “meeting”, and so far they’d gotten as far as her managing to convince Thor to sit down.

Thor scowled at her. He felt petulant and childish and he hated it.

She finally spoke. “Thor, I wanted to talk to you because this therapy will likely be very difficult, even upsetting.”

“Because it’s rape.” He wished he at least had a window to look out. They were really going to try to make him agree to this first?

‘They’. He tried not to think about it.

Deneth was shaking her head. “No, Thor, please don’t go into it with that attitude. Everyone is just trying to help you.”

Thor sighed, and stared at the wall to his right, for want of a window.

“We’re modeling this therapy after historical practices, consulting the best historians in Asgard. But ancient priorities and ideals are very different from our own. We’re trying to ensure this goes as smoothly as possible, but your cooperation will help immensely, Thor. It’s your health, safety, and comfort that we’re concerned with.”

“You’re modeling this ‘therapy’ after the rape of captured war prizes!”

“Yes. But that doesn’t mean what you go through has to be that way. You’re in control of your own destiny, Thor.”

“Then let me leave with Loki!”

Deneth took a deep, slow breath. It seemed like she was trying to calm Thor, more than herself, with it. After a while, she spoke again. “Your instincts are working against you, Thor. It’s completely natural. You’ve formed a bond, and now it seems like the most important force in your life. This feeling is especially strong because you’re so close to heat. But I promise you, this isn’t really what you want. Your own body is lying to you right now, and trying to tell you you need things that are very bad for you. Things that aren’t really the future you want.”

He squeezed his hand into a fist, still not looking at her. “The future I want doesn’t involve being raped.” By his friends. Alphas he knew. Alphas he’d trained with, fought with… They would do this to him.

Deneth was nodding understandingly. “Of course not. Thor, I want to help you. I want to help you sort out everything going on in your head right now. You’ve just found out you’re omega, when you expected to be alpha. You lost your position as Odin’s heir. You accidentally formed a mating bond to a Jotun. Nothing’s going how you expected. So tell me: What future do you want?”

“I…” He took his own slow breath. He needed to stay calm. If he was going to have any chance, any, of convincing her, he had to sound like he was in control of himself. “I just want to be with Loki. I think, for that to work, we’d have to leave Asgard.”

“I see.” She nodded, as if considering. “And the pack? Your friends here? Your home, your life?”

He shook his head. “I’d like to think I could visit sometime. But I… don’t… I don’t need this to be my home. I can leave, if I have to.”

“I see.” She said again, softly. “And when did your desire to leave your home start?”

He scowled, glancing briefly at her, before fixing his glare on the table between them. “It’s not that I want to leave! I don’t have a- I have to!”

Her voice was firmer, losing its tell-me-more softness. “And did you ever, even occasionally, wish for a life away from Asgard prior to forming this mating bond? Was this ever the future you wanted?”

He could feel anger building in him. Not the powerful rage that caused storms, but a childish need to yell. “No, but it’s different now! Loki’s not pack, he can’t stay, he won’t be allowed to stay!”

“So what you really want is a future with Loki?”

“Yes!”

“I see. But I’ve heard from many people, Thor, that until very recently, you and Loki were not intimate.”

“We weren’t, but-“ He found his tongue tripping to explain. “He’s alpha! And I thought I’d be alpha, and-“

“So at what point did planning your future begin to revolve around Loki?”

“When- As soon as I knew he wanted me, and I wanted him back!”

Daneth nodded calmly, as if she wasn’t badgering him, but her voice was sharp and quick. “Is that the point when he became all you wanted for your future? Or is that when you imagined him as part of your future, which contained so much more?”

“Stop it. It’s- Of course I didn’t think I’d have to run away and leave behind Asgard right then!”

“So when, exactly, did he become your only priority? Was it at any time, at all, before you formed a mating bond to him?”

“Stop it!” Thor stood up, and flung himself into pacing around the room, because it was that or give into the urge to shake her until she stopped! “Stop! You’re right! This isn’t the future I wanted! If I hadn’t bonded to him, I wouldn’t want it! But I did bond to him, and I don’t want to undo it! I can make my own choices, I can choose what I want for my future, and I want-“ He spun to face her, clenching his fists, trying to make his words come out right, to make her understand! “I want not to be forced to rejoin the pack, whether I like it or not! I want him! I choose him!”

She nodded, looking infuriatingly sad, and she began slowly straightening up the papers she’d laid on the table. “What you’re experiencing is called bond psychosis. We see it sometimes in alphas who form enemy bonds, and it’s very similar to heat psychosis, which you may have heard of. Briefly put, it’s a condition in which your instinctive drives overcome you to the point where you are no longer able to distinguish between what your drives are telling you, and reality.”

Thor stared at her. Then dropped onto the side of his bed with a hollow laugh. He rubbed his hand over his face. “So if I agree, it’s not rape, because I’ve agreed. And if I disagree, it’s not rape, because I’m not mentally competent!”

She nodded. “It’s my view, as an expert on omega psychology and biology, that you are not competent to make decisions about your own treatment. In that case, decisions go to your parent. In your case, that would be your father.”

“He turned me over to my mother!” He knew he sounded desperate. He felt desperate. “When I moved into my own household, he put my mother in charge of helping me!”

“Be that as it may, he is still your primary parent. And he has been strongly in favor of whatever therapy is needed to reconnect you to the pack.”

That was sick. Thor thought for a minute that he would truly throw up. He looked at the floor between his knees, breathing hard, almost wishing it would happen. His father was in favor of him being raped.

What was happening to Loki? What was Father doing to him?

Thor pushed the thoughts down again, as he’d been doing all day.

“Thor…” Daneth was back to her gentle voice. “I am begging you, as someone who cares about your wellbeing, not to fight this treatment. I would get on my knees and beg, if I thought it would help. Breaking a bond is traumatic, but the process itself doesn’t have to be. We’re going to find alphas you know well, alphas you trust, who care about you, to help you through this. Is there anyone in particular you’d like? Anyone you feel safe with?”

Absurdly, his mind flashed to Heimdall. If he was going along with this… he’d want Heimdall.

The thought of Heimdall raping him made the nausea return even harder.

“I want Loki. I feel safe with Loki.”

Daneth’s mouth thinned into an irritated line. But then she shook it off. “Please take this seriously. Your heat is likely to start within the next day or two. In an effort to make this as easy as possible on you, we’re going to focus this heat on reinforcing your bond to the pack. We’re hoping to make this process as gentle and non-traumatic as possible. But if that doesn’t work, the time between then and your second heat will focus strongly on breaking down your current bond - and your will to cling to it. Historical accounts describe some very unpleasant processes for rebonding omegas.”

Thor sat in silence a moment, taking that in. Then he lunged to his feet, and began stalking toward her, seeing alarm light in her eyes. “You’d better just go ahead a warm up the torture rack, then, because I’m not cooperating with anything!” Lighting danced up his hands, and she scrambled up, as he grabbed the table between them, and flung it away. “You can tell everyone else differently, you can say it’s therapy, but you know! You know what it is!”

She scrambled out the door, and it slammed heavily behind her, locking into place.

He roared through it anyway. “YOU KNOW! YOU ALL KNOW! I WILL NEVER LET MYSELF BE A PART OF YOUR PACK!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	30. Chapter 30

Loki sat in his cell, still and quiet.

Watching his hand, he let it turn blue again. Then back to white. He closed it and opened it. Blue. White.

Jotun.

He’d passed through his disbelief, and then his despair. Being locked alone in a cell, with no distractions, left little time for anything else.

Jotun. A stolen Jotun runt. It explained so much. It explained why he had never fit in. Why he had always felt different, long before he’d gone to the temple.

Why Father had never truly considered him as a legitimate option for an heir, even when he had named him it.

And he’d passed, with difficulty, through a feeling of being less. For hours, he’d curled in his cell, hating this truth of himself, burning with the knowledge that he would never be good enough, that this pathetic ending was only what was appropriate, that Thor would be better off, far, far better off with the pack, with true Asgardians, with alphas worthy of him!

Except…

Thor.

Thor had chosen him. Had bonded to him.

Thor had chosen him.

Self-hatred clawed in his belly, hot and sharp. And it had fought against the creeping knowledge that Thor - Thor! - had chosen him, above all others. Had chosen him in the truest, most intimate way.

Thor had become omega. And he had chosen Loki to be his alpha. Had bonded to him. Chosen him.

Loki could not think of a better measure of worthiness.

The dark heat in his belly had clawed and fought. Tried to rip him apart from the inside. But the fact remained. Unalterable, indisputable. Thor had chosen him.

Thor had found him worthy.

And Thor had been taken away, to be raped into submission.

Yes, he had passed through his feelings of being less. And into rage. Fury. Violent and feral. The clawing in his belly made him shake with the need to escape this cell, and tear every single being on Asgard apart.

He had not bonded to Thor as an alpha. He had controlled himself, had refused to let that happen.

But Thor was his.

Thor was his!

The knowledge thrummed through him like a heartbeat. It had nothing to do with being alpha and omega. Nothing to do with the bed they’d shared, or the blood they hadn’t. Thor was his in the way his hands had held on to Loki in the rain, as he sobbed at broken dreams. His in the way he’d laughed and tried to cover Loki’s mouth, when Loki had made up a song to tease him. Thor belonged to him in all the nights they’d spent together in the dark woods, the battles they’d fought back to back, the betrayals and forgivings, the tricks and the defeats. He was his in the shared stolen candy, and the brushed hair, and the shoulder pressed against his own.

He was his because - Loki’s mind scrambled for a word, for something to describe this burning possession, that had nothing to do with a bond. Thor was his. Had always been his. Would always be his! Brothers or not, he would protect Thor because he-

Loved him.

Yes.

The word came, with its archaic meaning. Asgardians loved their friends, and loved their families, and even loved their lovers, but… Not like this. Not in that ancient, romantic way, which put the one you loved above anything else. Not in this way that made them yours, and more importantly, you theirs. That meaning was left for a time of pair bonds and monogamy, a time of falling in love with only one, with no pack to consider. It was a fantastical, romantic word, with no place outside of historical romances.

And here.

This.

Loki loved Thor.

Loved him.

And with the realization, the reminder of his helplessness crashed down on him once again. He was trapped in his cell, and the pack would use means as violent as necessary to reclaim Thor. It was difficult to track time here, but Thor’s heat must start soon, if it hadn’t already.

He didn’t growl, as he thought again of how he would kill any who touched Thor. The thought was not alpha instinct, bristling over its omega. The thought was simple fact. As sharp and deadly as his knives.

His hand turned blue again, as he watched it. Cold crystalized water in the air, drawing it around his hand. He snapped his hand back into a fist, crushing the ice, even as his falsely pale skin came back.

He had to get out of here. He had to get to Thor.

His head jerked up, as he heard voices, and he stood quickly.

Volstagg’s voice. And… Mother’s?

Yes. Mother was speaking sharply to a guard. And soon the guard was deciding the top of the stairs was a perfectly fine place to keep watch, and hurrying to it.

The mother to an alpha’s heirs had a rather ambiguous position of respect. There was no “queen”, no official status gained, and yet, a great deal of unofficial status. But what, the guard had likely thought, of a mother to ex-heirs?

Of course, he should instead have thought about the respect due to a mother to ex-heirs who could turn a man inside out with her tongue, and might be in just the mood to do so. Really, the man was lucky to have been given the chance to retreat.

Loki watched them come, trying to imagine which scenario had brought them here. And, most importantly, which set of words he could use to make them open his cell.

Volstagg wasted no time on pleasantries. “Thor’s heat has started!”

That DID bring a growl to Loki’s throat. His eyes roamed over them both, searching for weakness. “What, and you came down to be certain I know he’s being raped because of me? I’m well aware, but the update is appreciated.”

“Thor has not yet been hurt.” Mother said, as calm as ever. “There is still time to prevent it.”

Volstagg nodded once. “They sent Fenral in; he seemed to think Thor had shown interest in him. Thor sent him out again, bruised, bloody, and singed! But they’re only going to give him another few hours, to get more heat-desperate.” Volstagg made a furious gesture. “Last I heard, they were arguing over who had the right balance - someone he’ll feel safe with, but also someone who over can overpower him, and will seem like an authority.”

Volstagg looked like he wanted to tear the palace down with his fists and teeth. He looked like he would be sick.

Good. Loki could use that.

Loki paced to stand right in front of the warrior. He lowered his voice, forcing Volstagg to lean close to hear.

Right now, his tongue was the only weapon he had, and he would use it. So he took careful aim, at this gentle giant of an Asgardian. This man who had gone into battle for Thor, time and time again. This man who viewed loyalty to his friends as his highest virtue. He carefully picked the dart he knew would pierce Volstagg the deepest.

“And what, brave Asgardian warrior… are you going to do about it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope no pink elephants made it in; I am FALLING ASLEEP. I refuse to say what time it is for me, and no one can make me.
> 
> ———
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To see WARNINGS for this chapter, see end notes.

Heat, Thor learned, was terrible.

Some omegas let this happen to them on purpose? He knew. He knew that was true. Fandral sometimes did, when Volstagg was available. He’d avoid getting pregnant until… until he was wild with it. Then he would… Volstagg would…

Thor groaned, digging his hands into the bed, arching his hips up, imagining his big friend crushing Fandral under him, controlling him, possessing him! He wondered if Volstagg got rough. He never would have thought Volstagg could be, but now he couldn’t imagine heat being satisfied by less!

He whined, desperate, into his pillow, as his thighs shook, as he pushed his hips up for a cock that wasn’t there! Loki! He didn’t even have anything that smelled like him!

He wrapped his hand around his cock, and he rolled gracelessly onto his back, legs hiked up to his chest and spread wide, as his other hand desperately tried to do anything useful for his wet, needy hole. Tears welled in his eyes, as his head fell back. It wasn’t enough!

He’d tried to resist this. They’d sent an alpha in, hours ago, and he’d felt the burn of heat then, but he’d still been in control of himself. He’d attacked the alpha, furious that someone other than his mate had dared come near him, and let the bastard flee.

He’d told himself he’d stay ready. Told himself, as the burn became maddening, that he would ignore it. Better he stay alert. And dressed.

But hours had passed. And soon his pants had been open around his thighs and he’d reasoned, between twistingly dissatisfying, sanity-destroying masturbations, that around his thighs would limit his movement, if he needed to defend himself again. Off would be better. And then, well, having his shirt on was just ridiculous.

Being naked had been a very brief relief.

He tried to use his fingers. Plunged his fingers into himself, as deeply and roughly as he could. He didn’t have any toys! He didn’t have anything! Even the furniture had been removed, except for the bed!

He squeezed his ass tight around his fingers, bore down on them, and sobbed because it wasn’t enough! “Loki, please! Please!” He needed him, needed him!

He tried to bring himself off again, tried, maybe this time it would be satisfying, but the sick feeling grew, as he realized he couldn’t, couldn’t, couldn’t! He turned his face back into the pillow, and sobbed. He was sweaty and filthy, rolling around sheets just as filthy with his own cum and slick, and he needed, needed! He was keening, thrusting against the bed, he needed Loki, Loki to hold him down and fuck him, ravage him! He needed brutal, savage pounding, Loki’s teeth on his neck! Loki’s cock filling him, wrecking him, knotting him!

Norns, he needed a cock so bad!

Writhing and clawing against the bed, he didn’t even register the sound of the door opening.

“Thor.”

Thor froze at the deep voice. As much as he could, wracked by this twisting, burning need.

General Ryet. Thor didn’t need to look, to recognize his voice. Didn’t need to think to be ready to obey his commands.

Ryet. He had seen Thor through the most serious, formative portion of his warrior training. He had spent decades teaching Thor discipline. Teaching Thor to be everything he could. He’d taught Thor to trust his fellow warriors with his life, to obey commands on the battlefield, and accept no limits on the training ground. He’d taught Thor how to wield an axe, and wrestle a giant, and oh yes, to deep throat a cock.

Thor pressed his face into his pillow, and couldn’t stop his hips from straining upward, needing. Ryet would take care of his real needs. He knew he would. He trembled, willing to wait, as still as he could, obedience to this alpha thrumming through long-practiced channels within him.

He suddenly thought of how pathetic he must look, but it just made him want to cry with frustration.

“I told you there would be times when your strength would work against you.” Ryet paced closer, with steady, solid steps. “You’ve never taken to surrender. It’s always driven you to fight harder. You have the heart of a warrior, Thor, and it was an honor to teach you to direct your strength.”

He was at the edge of the bed. Thor could hold back sobs, but not the tears streaming from his eyes. Please. Please!

“So now you face a different challenge, and it may be your hardest yet. You love your kingdom. I have seen how hard you are willing to fight for the pack. For your people. For Asgard. And now, Thor, the opponent you must defeat is yourself.”

Thor peeked out from where he was buried in his pillow to see him, crouched down to Thor’s level, looking solemnly back at him. Everything inside him lurched.

“Your own instincts. Your own stubbornness, even. But I know you can do it. You’re the strongest I’ve ever had the honor to train. Let me help you, Thor. Let me show you how to fight this battle.”

Thor managed to find his tongue. And if his voice came out as a whimper, it didn’t matter. No pride was necessary with Ryet. “Loki. My mate.”

“He isn’t, Thor. He didn’t return your bond. I know you’re worried for your brother, but the best thing you can do for him is let this matter come to a swift end. He will not be allowed out of his imprisonment until it is.” He reached out, and gave Thor’s shoulder a firm, reassuring squeeze. “Your instincts are lying to you, Thor. I know you can overcome them.”

Thor shook his head frantically. No! NO! Ryet smelled so good and so wrong, wrong, sickeningly, horribly wrong! But what if he was right? What if the smell was a lie, and he could make this burning end?

Loki.

His instincts were lying, but his instincts were screaming two different things. Demanding Ryet’s cock, and wanting to kill Ryet for his wrong smell. Which instinct was a lie?

Loki.

Which instinct was a lie? What did he want? He remembered that omega expert asking him. What did he want?

Loki.

He wanted this burning, twisting need to end! He wanted this terrible wrong alpha scent to go away! He wanted a cock! Wanted to be claimed, rough and hard! Wanted to be dominated, owned, brutally used until he knew his place!

Loki!

He was sobbing into his pillow now, far past any self-control or shame. Sobbing, rocking, hips in the air, needing. Needing!

“Loki!”

“Fight it, Thor! You can be free of this!”

Free! Free of this bond, free of the pack, free of this burning! Free of this omega fate the norns had spun for him!

“No, no, no…”

“You can do it, Thor. You’re strong enough for this!”

Free of lying instincts! And what did he want? What did he want?!?

Not this! He wanted Loki! And no other! No other!

“NO!” He roared the word. The defiance against this submission. Against this… this manipulation! “NO! NEVER!”

Then he buried his face back in his pillow, sobbing. Nothing would end this twisting need!

Ryet made a little noise in his throat, the noise he made when a pupil simply wasn’t getting it. “You can do this. Here.” He climbed into the bed, and wrapped himself over Thor’s back, as if it was no more than wading in to correct a wrestling form.

Thor’s mind seemed to flare. Need, need, NEED! And that terrible smell he wanted to destroy!

“Like this.” Ryet was opening his pants, freeing his cock. Thor felt it against his ass.

“No!” He flailed back, and managed to unbalance Ryet, and twisted around to follow it with an attack.

Far too slow. At only one hundred, Thor knew little that Ryet himself hadn’t taught him. Ryet had him on his back again soon, so thoroughly pinned he could barely squirm.

“No!”

He tried to fight. Tried to summon his lightning. But it lived in anger and power, and he felt powerless. Scared. Burning.

“No! Get off! Get off!” He smelled wrong! Thor struggled against his hold, but he knew it was futile. He couldn’t defeat Ryet on his best day!

“It’s going to be okay. We’ll get you through this.” Ryet grunted. His cock was pressing against Thor’s skin. Rubbing.

His cock.

Thor didn’t need to defeat him.

He went limp. “Please, please…”

Ryet kept a hold on him, but pulled back enough to adjust their position.

Just enough for Thor to ram his knee up between his legs, crushing into his balls.

Didn’t need to defeat him. Just needed to defeat his cock.

Ryet howled, but kept Thor pinned. But he released one of Thor’s hands as he blocked his knee.

Thor reached down, grabbed his balls, and twisted. Squeezed. Hard.

It was a momentary victory. The next thing Thor knew, he was on the floor, head ringing, Ryet looming over him. Thor shuddered, but couldn’t even summon it in himself to roll into a ball.

“You shit!” Ryet snarled. “Is that how your Jotun lover taught you to fight?”

Thor snorted, managing to sound mocking. “Still want to fuck me, General?” He tried to get his limbs under him. He didn’t want to be on the floor. “I will never, NEVER rejoin the pack!”

A blow to the ribs knocked him sprawling again.

The General Ryet limped away, pulling up his pants before he staggered out the door. He was no use to an omega’s heat at the moment.

Thor thought he should laugh. Feel victorious. But the twisting in his gut hurt, hurt, hurt! He clawed at the ground for a minute, then slowly pulled himself up.

He could hear arguing outside his door, at Ryet’s too-abrupt return. Raised voices. How many were out there? How many had gathered to oversee his rape?

“Let me through!” a voice roared. Still barely able to stand, Thor stared at the door, numb mind trying to process it. Volstagg?

Arguing. Father’s voice?

“Let me through!” Volstagg sounded angry. “I’m his friend! I should do it! He’ll accept me!”

More voices. Thor had to keep one hand on the footboard to stay upright, and was still bent over. He ached inside, hurt, needed!

His earlier, fevered thoughts of Volstagg seeing Fandral through his heats came back to him, making his need flare. He wanted, wanted, no no no!

Then Volstagg was barreling in, slamming the door behind him.

Thor snarled at him. “No!” His friend! His friend, here to take part in this… this torture! To take part in degrading him, breaking his will, raping him!

Volstagg held his hands up, soothingly. “Now, Thor…”

“Traitor!” Thor leapt at him, hurt turning into rage, turning into power. He knocked Volstagg back, off his feet, slamming them into the ground, and drew his fist back to punch him.

“Thor! Wait!”

Volstagg melted away under him.

And in his place… was Loki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Attempted rape in this chapter. Very close call.
> 
> ———
> 
> Had a bout of writer’s block (depression?) for a few days. Thought I wouldn’t be able to finish this chapter, or this fic, even though it’s SO CLOSE TO DONE! Two more chapters? 1-3, anyway, depending on how well my libido cooperates with a sex scene. And I can’t just “take a break” from this fic. I start doing something else, THIS FIC STAYS IN LIMBO.
> 
> But it passed, and I think this chapter came out pretty well! Hope it did, anyway!
> 
> Also, to everyone leaving me comments and getting emoji smashes in return: Your comments are awesome I love you, my brain is just Out Of Words right now, finishing this fic is FRYING me! 😩😬
> 
> ———
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	32. Chapter 32

“Loki…”

Loki was grinning. Not his clever smirk, proud of the trick he’d played, but a true broad smile, as if he didn’t realize he was doing it. He reached up, and cupped Thor’s face. “Thor…”

Loki. Loki was here! Loki was here, and he smelled so perfect it hurt, and-

Thor kissed him frantically. “Fuck me! Please, please, Loki, please!” The pain of his heat suddenly crashed over him. The gnawing, frantic need. He fumbled with the openings of Loki’s pants, unable to see through the tears in his eyes. “Please, help me, fuck me!”

“Ah.” The stroking hands in his hair weren’t enough, not nearly enough! “I was intending us to escape first. Do you think you can wait, sweet?”

Later, replaying it, Thor’s mind noted the pet name with fluttering, embarrassed delight. At the moment, all he heard was the reluctance in Loki’s tone, and he dissolved into tears, still struggling, frustrated, with Loki’s pants. “No! Please, I-“ He started to cry harder. It was too much! “Please, mate, please, I need, please!” It would never end! Never!

Loki gasped. And the next thing Thor knew, he was in Loki’s arms, being carried the few steps to the bed. Then he was plopping down into it, and Loki was scrambling out of his clothes. “Okay! Shh, love, it’s okay! It- Fuck. They’ll be less on guard anyway, later is better!”

Then he was pouncing on Thor, almost attacking him with kisses, and Thor cried out, and tried to pull him even closer. “Please, please…” He spread his legs wide, as wide as he could, still choking on need and tears. “Please!”

And Loki was in him.

He roared in relief, felt thunder burst out of him! Howled wild pleasure as Loki pounded into him, fucked him harder and harder!

“I love you!” Loki was snarling the words into Thor’s neck. “I LOVE you! Going to- Norns, norns, mine!” His teeth scraped against Thor’s skin. And though his drooling, mindless, almost panicked animal pleasure, Thor managed to feel Loki tighten his grip on him convulsively. “Say it! Mine!”

Thor was long past words. A sobbing mindless mess, too disorganized to even be a beast, able to be nothing but a hungry hole, urgently demanding more cock, drinking in each pounding thrust.

Loki’s hand was in his hair, tight, jerking his head back to better bare his throat. “Mine! Say it!”

His knot was growing, and Thor groaned with delirious pleasure, used his legs to urge Loki closer, harder, more!

Loki tugged his hair again, hard enough to force a tiny bit of focus from Thor. “Say you are mine! Mine only!”

Only! Thor gasped. “Yes! Yours, brother, yes!” His brother, his alpha, his! The boy he’d grown up beside, all alone in this palace! The young man with the secretive smile and magic at his fingertips, and knives quick as lightning! The brother who’d gone to the temple so early, and turned into something as intimidating and unfathomable as an alpha! And now, the alpha who was taking him, claiming him, owning him! 

Biting him!

As Loki’s knot locked in place, and his seed began to flood him, as his teeth dug into the side of Thor’s neck, and Thor’s thunder crashed and shook the walls, Thor squeezed Loki closer with everything he had. “MINE!”

Loki jerked. And bit harder.

And Thor came.

It washed through him. Flooded him. Even more than Loki’s seed, or Loki’s possession. Theirs! His body tingled all over with warmth, wave after wave, and it was as if he’d never experienced a true orgasm before. As if every single time he’d thought he had, it had been a dim, unsatisfying shadow of this.

At some point he realized it had stopped, and he was lying utterly limp. He drew in a breath, and realized he hadn’t been breathing.

Loki was still at his neck, dazedly working his bite with his tongue. He seemed almost limp, but kept himself clamped onto Thor.

Clamped, yes. It came back to Thor, dazedly. He’d read about this. If there were particular intense feelings involved, an alpha might go into a mating clamp. They wouldn’t let the omega go, and would deliver multiple rounds of seed into their partner.

Sure enough, Loki shuddered, eyes glassy, grip intent, and Thor felt still more seed pump into him.

Oh… gods, that felt good.

He took slow stock of himself. The heat pain was gone. He could feel the heat still, nagging, and knew it would be back. Knew Loki wouldn’t let it hurt him.

Sore. Or… he would be sore, later. He could feel that. But right now it just felt good. Radiating warmth of the best kind.

Full.

Oh, yes, full. Still stuffed on Loki’s knot, and now at least two rounds of cum. Wallowing in his satiated pleasure, he imagined Loki’s clamp never ending, and him pumping Thor fuller, and fuller…

Oh. Pregnant. He was pregnant.

The thought came back to him, as much a shock as anything could be, in his relaxed state. Pregnant! Or… he would be. It took time for sperm to reach the egg, so it would be… hours? Days?

With a soft growl, Loki came again. Thor imagined him trying to squeeze his seed faster up into Thor.

He stroked Loki’s hair through it, wondering at where they were. How had they gotten here? How could they not always have known they would be?

“Yours.” He murmured the word, soft reassurance, as he combed through his brother’s… his mate’s hair. Something in Loki seemed to relax at the word, and his glassy eyes slid shut. A few seconds later, he released his bite.

“Thor…” He nuzzled at his neck, then made his way up for a kiss, which Thor drank in.

“And how did you get here, trickster?” He’d meant to sound amusingly flippant, to bring them both to some sort of order. But the words came out as lazy and pleasure-swamped as he felt.

Loki laughed, with a similar tone. “Unf. Mother and Volstagg sprung me. Volstagg’s currently disguised as me down in prison.”

That cut through his relaxation. “What? But- No! We have to-“

“Nng. Don’t worry. That wicked, trickster Jotun trapped him in there. Mother and all your warrior friends will see to his freedom, just as soon as we’ve made our escape.”

He thought that over carefully, trying to compensate for his pleasure-soaked brain. It… made sense.

Loki lifted his chest off Thor a bit, and Thor could feel his knot starting to fade. “Speaking of which, we should make that escape soon. They’re hardly going to let you spend your heat undisturbed in here, alone with ‘Volstagg’.”

Before his mind even knew what he was doing, Thor’s hand locked around Loki’s arms, stopping him from pulling away.

Loki blinked at him.

Uh… “But… if they think ‘Volstagg’ is finally bringing me around to cooperating… they probably won’t be in… too much of a hurry to interrupt. It’ll probably… relax their guard, if they think things are going so well.”

Loki opened his mouth to protest.

Thor clenched tight around his cock, still half-knotted within him.

Loki closed his mouth. “I… Yes, excellent point.”

Thor grinned. Then tugged his brother - his lover, his mate! - close enough for more long overdue kissing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want you to imagine Odin and co outside the door this whole time, pressing their ear against the door, whispering to each other “I think it’s going well!” XD
> 
> ———
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	33. Chapter 33

It was hard to concentrate, while in heat.

No, that wasn’t true. It was incredibly difficult to stop concentrating on how badly he needed Loki’s cock again.

It had been hard to get out of bed. To let Loki out of bed. He’d understood why they needed to, he could agree with the urgency, but then his limbs would lock themselves around Loki when he tried to pull away. NO.

Eventually, Loki pinned him down, growling, and told him good little omegas got rewards when they listened to their alphas.

It was absolutely humiliating how well that worked.

Thor had managed to get up, and dress himself. He’d even been able to cooperate with Loki’s plan, hurling ‘Volstagg’ out of his room and smashing a hole in his wall to do it. Then he’d stayed out of sight, as his illusory double ran out into the hallway, naked and shouting for Loki, leading the alphas guarding his door on a chase.

Just their good luck that Odin seemed to have left his door for the time, perhaps satisfied Thor was being fuck into obedience at last.

They’d hurried through the halls, everything hanging on the hope that they could reach the bifrost before anyone realized enough to stop them. Thor was coherent enough, even, to realize it was not Loki’s most foolproof plan.

But it had seemed to be working. Between the two of them, they were able to take down the few random opponents that got in their way.

Until. A screeching alarm. Bellowing voices. The sound of feet, lots of them, approaching fast.

Loki had shoved them into an alcove, and behind some pillars. And he must have cast some illusion over them, because while they stood there, frozen, dozens of guards and warriors rushed by in every direction, never giving them a second look.

“Don’t move.” Loki’s words were the barest whisper, right against his ear. “Not a noise.”

Thor closed his eyes, trying to will the burning in him down.

Loki’s illusions often relied on inattention and expectations. With so many people actively searching for them, whatever shadow he had cast over them would likely not stand up to much scrutiny.

But he was pressed close up against Thor. His hand was over Thor’s lips. And Thor couldn’t possibly stop himself from reacting. He whimpered.

“Shh!” The sound carried more plea than command.

He kept his eyes closed. His lips closed. He rocked his hips against Loki.

Loki snarled, very, very quietly, but it shot down Thor’s spine. Then he shoved Thor even more roughly into the pillar, as if to force him into obedience.

“Oh fuck!” Thor breathed. “Loki, please!”

Loki gave his hair a small, harsh tug, and hissed in his ear, words tinged with desperation. “Good little omegas wait until their alphas tell them it’s time!”

That wasn’t going to work this time! He tried not to move, tried not to make a noise, but heat was pooling in his groin, racing through him, burning him, distracting him from any other consideration, except that an alpha - HIS alpha - was pressed up against him, and he needed, please, needed! Thor shook his head, trying not to whine. “Loki! Please!” The words were smothered in Loki’s hand, but he couldn’t stop them coming out. He pawed pleadingly at Loki’s arm, needing, needing to stay quiet, needing his cock, needing-

“Gods, you smell-“ Loki cut his words off, and Thor could feel him shaking. Could feel tears of need start to well in his own eyes. Please! “Oh, damn the norns to a thousand hells, stay quiet!”

Then he flipped Thor around, shoving him face first into the pillar, and before Thor understood what was happening, his pants were down around his thighs, and Loki was thrusting into him.

He would have cried out in relief, but Loki’s hand was back over his mouth, tight and forceful, just like his thrusts.

“You gorgeous, insatiable thing!” Loki’s hissed words were barely there at all, sharp and fierce slivers, but each one burned fire in Thor’s gut. In his mind. “You think your slick little ass is worth dying for? It is! I would burn for eternity for you! I would keep the stars alight, and snuff every one of them to avenge your loss! You perfect, infuriating, arrogant jackass!”

He couldn’t stop his whimpers, spilling into Loki’s hand. He could barely focus on not crushing the pillar he was clawing at, as Loki filled him, filled him…

“Look at you! No self control at all! When I get you properly alone for your next heat, I am going to make you weep for all the pleasure we’ve missed in this one. I am going to make you see the norns all over again, so they can see that you are mine! Mine!” His knot locked in place, and Thor moaned as he came. As Loki came. Filling him, filling him…

He stayed limp against the pillar, still and quiet at last, until Loki’s knot started to subside. He was so full. But felt strangely empty. They weren’t safe here.

Loki was kissing the back of his neck. “Next time will be better, I promise you. I promise.”

Thor became aware, slowly, that the search had moved to another area. There were still a few guards, but they were distant. So they could speak above the faintest whisper, at least. Loki was nuzzling, petting him, soothing him like the mindless, hormone-flooded omega he’d been mere moments ago.

“I’m sorry.” He pressed his forehead against the cool pillar, feeling the weight of the trap they were in, settling heavily over him.

Loki scoffed, softly. “You’re in heat, Thor. Your first heat. You’re doing well to be walking and talking. And I shouldn’t have… manhandled you like that, obviously.”

“No.” They couldn’t hide here forever. And then what? “I’m sorry for getting you into this. You were doing fine, until I-”

Loki cut him off with a snort. “Went to the norns and begged them to make you omega? Purposely seduced me, and tricked me into a bond? As usual, brother, this is entirely my fault. I knew I had the capacity to bond, and I didn’t even warn you until it was too late. For that matter, I could have told you you were omega as soon as I knew. You would have run off and fucked half the warriors in the city, and never been at risk of bonding to me.”

“You didn’t ask to be… not pack!” ‘Jotun’. The word was still too strange, applied to Loki. “You didn’t know I could form a bond to you, either!”

“Hmm, yes. It’s possible this isn’t our fault at all, and we should instead blame the power-mad monarch hunting us.” His tone was terribly dry.

“That’s not the point! It’s not- If they catch us now, they’ll kill you! And it isn’t… fair! I’m not worth this! Your whole life is being destroyed, and for what? A fucking omega? A worthless fucking-”

Thor felt Loki’s teeth, abruptly, at the base of his neck, heard his low growl. Then he released his bite, with a possessive lick, once he knew Thor would not speak. “Alternate hypothesis: The norns made me alpha because they knew I wouldn’t be part of the pack. They knew I would eventually bond to an omega, and disrupt Asgard’s complacency.” He stretched against Thor, nuzzling closer against his neck, as if he could claim him any further than he had. “They made you omega, because you, the golden prince, have the strength needed to shake Asgard from it’s stillness, and withstand their ancient power.” He was dragging hungry hands over Thor’s sides, pressing against him. “I think, dear brother, that we were found worthy of exactly this task. I think we were found worthy of each other.”

Thor let out a soft moan, at the shudder that passed through him. Whether Loki’s words or hands had brought it, he couldn’t tell. He couldn’t tell them apart. “Loki…”

Loki was rocking against him, his hands working Thor’s cock, his own hardening quickly, still inside Thor’s ass. “One more, brother. One more, to get you clear-headed. Then we leave this place for good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Horny bastards.
> 
> Loki logic: "Norns are on our side, so I bet we can get away with fucking in public while being hunted!"
> 
> Hormone logic: "Oh yeah, that sounds legit!"
> 
> ———
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


	34. Chapter 34

After that it was almost easy.

They couldn’t go to the bifrost now, there were far too many guards. And Loki had never liked the way that plan depended on Heimdall. Yes, Thor had always seemed to be Heimdall’s favorite, but…

In any case, it was no option now. So they would have to steal a ship. They would have to fly off, with no idea of where they were going, knowing almost nothing of the worlds beyond the realms…

They’d figure it out. Loki was good at unpredictable situations, and Thor got along with everybody. They just had to get away from here.

After hours of hiding, the search was slowing. Guards became bored and settled. They were no longer closely examining every person they passed, no longer trying so hard to push their mind through any illusion for every face they saw.

Still, a couple would likely be examined closely. So it would be safer if they left the palace separately.

Loki hated that part of the plan. Thor was so distracted with his heat…

But it went well enough. Loki escaped as a guard, slipping into a group. Thor he disguised as Magsi, the elderly old cook. She’d long retired, but often came and went from the palace to visit and gossip with the kitchen staff still. The guards were all used to seeing her, and at her age no one would be bothered if she seemed a bit distracted or confused.

Loki’s guard disguise allowed him to hover within sight, outside the palace. His heart raced. If they saw through the illusion… If they smelled him… If they caught him…

Then Thor was free, making his careful old-lady walk down the street away from the palace. Loki let him walk ahead a bit, then turned to catch up.

Before he did, he paused one moment, to look back at their golden cage.

They would never be back. They would never see this place again. This place where they’d been bound together, then bound apart. This place Thor had meant to rule. This place Loki should never have been.

A single, soft laugh escaped him, and he turned away, to follow Thor. He wouldn’t miss this place at all!

When he caught up with Thor, he took an unwatched moment and switched their disguises to that of nondescript shoppers. Thor’s pace sped immediately.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.” Thor’s voice was tense, despite his words. “Heat’s getting bad again.”

“Once we get the ship away from Asgard, we’ll have plenty of time.” Loki soothed.

They made good time to the harbor, and Loki sighed in relief to see their ship, The Eternal, in its usual place.

Well. Technically it was the ship of the crown heir. So it had effectively been Thor’s. Then, briefly, Loki’s. Now, he supposed, it didn’t really belong to anyone.

So it wouldn’t be stealing to take it.

They’d never spent much time on it. They had the bifrost for travel. Ships were for emergency travel between realms in case of bifrost failure, or for scientific readings, or, in their experience, mostly for entertaining guests. But they knew how to fly it, and it was well-stocked with emergency supplies.

As they got closer, he laid a careful hand on the small of Thor’s back. He could feel his heat, rising up in him! It was in the way Thor’s whole body had reacted to Loki’s light touch. The tremors under his skin. His fast, hard pulse. Yes, best they get to their ship soon...

He shifted their illusions again, giving them maintenance uniforms and toolboxes, and they walked confidently into the harbor. The Eternal was near the entrance, and they tried to look unhurried as they approached, until they were-

“I THOUGHT AS MUCH!” Thor was jerked from his side!

Loki spun around, illusions shattered, magic flying to his fingers, as Odin’s voice doomed them! He froze. He had Thor! Odin had Thor!

Thor was on his knees, growling, held there by Odin’s own power, shadows writhing around him. He was snarling, lightning climbing over his arms and chest, useless when his captor was so many feet away. Guards were rushing in to surround them.

Loki lashed out with his own magic, a simple, brute blast of power, driven by wild need, and it was frustrating but not surprising when it didn’t touch Odin. “Let him go! If you ever loved him as you claimed you did, just let him go!”

Futile, of course. Odin had loved Thor’s perfection, not Thor himself. Guards surrounded Loki, grabbed him, cut off his attack - however futile - and held a sword to his throat.

“Let go of him!” No, no, no...

Odin spared him no more than a sneer, before turning his attention back to his true son. “I knew you would come here. And now, I take it, you’ve bonded with him? You’ve only sentenced your mate-“ He snarled the word. “to death!”

He drew his own sword, and Loki realized he intended to carry out the execution immediately. His eyes widened, as his mind scrambled for an escape. Wait, wait, surely they could make some kind of deal! This couldn’t be it, not with Thor captured! Not for Thor!

“Don’t touch him!” Thor managed to rise almost to his feet, growling, fighting Odin’s power. Loki flinched when Odin spun on Thor, and landed a hard blow across his face, knocking him sprawling across the ground.

“No!”

He was ignored again, all Odin’s rage focused on Thor. “ENOUGH! You are my greatest disappointment! I never expected much from a Jotun castoff, but you were to be my heir! Now you’re no more than an embarrassment! Breeding stock, whoring yourself out to whatever offworld filth smiles at you! I never thought you would be such a weak, useless traitor!”

Thor was trembling on the ground, heat catching up fast in the face of alpha aggression. Loki tried to pull away from his captors, but felt the blade of the sword digging into his throat. No! Thor!

“You are no prince! No warrior!” Odin stalked around him, outraged by his disappointment of an heir. “You are an omega in heat, and you will stay on your belly, and learn precisely where you belong!”

“I- Loki…” Thor was trying to get up, but moving so slowly, dazed by heat and need. He turned his face up to Odin, dizzily defiant. “I don’t belong… to you!”

Odin drew back his foot, to kick Thor in the ribs. Loki couldn’t move, without slicing open his throat. He was hurting him, he was going to hurt him, Thor, THOR!

Ice exploded around them.

Loki, trembling himself now, looked down at his hands. Blue. Jotun blue. Oh…

Thor blinked up at him, looking dazed.

The guards were on the ground, in a ring around Loki. Frozen in place by thick slabs of ice. Odin stood still, encased, looming over Thor.

Thor had no more than a dusting of ice flecks.

“Loki?”

“...Yes?” He stared at his hands. The last of the blue was disappearing, fading back to his usual white. His usual lie. He was… still Loki. Yes. Loki… Nooneson.

Thor’s Loki.

Thor got to his feet, unsteady. He came toward Loki, looking dazed, but intent on his goal. Then he pulled Loki into a fierce kiss.

Oh. Oh no.

“Not here! Into the ship!” The ice holding Odin was cracking. Loki could feel the force of his rage. “Go! In! Run!”

They both took off, urgency pounding in their blood.

They reached the bottom of the ramp, just as they heard a loud crack of ice behind them. Loki didn’t turn to look. Was Odin free? Still partially trapped? He could imagine a wave of his power, his shadowed ravens, surging up behind them, ready to drown them forever in its darkness, and he could not have run any faster! Thor tried to turn, to look at the noise, and Loki grabbed him, dragged him forward, childishly certain that looking would be their doom!

In the moment they plowed through the door, the instant before he slammed it shut behind them, eyes tightly closed, he swore he felt something, SOMETHING on his back.

Odin had power far beyond what Loki knew.

He could never prove anything had been chasing them, much less some unspeakable power they dare not look at. He never knew for certain.

But the feeling never left him, any time he looked back at that frantic memory.

“Get to the controls!”

He could still feel it. Odin’s power, or only his fear of it, rising, rising, trying to engulf their ship, and hold it here. Golden cage, golden pack, golden prince, golden realm, they would never be allowed to escape!

The ship shuddered in place, as it tried to take off. Seemed to fight far more than gravity itself.

Later, Thor said he hadn’t noticed any delay in their take off. But Thor hadn’t been noticing much other than how much he needed Loki’s cock, at the moment.

Then, the ship seemed to break free. Suddenly, they were racing away, into the sky. Away from Odin, from atmosphere, from Asgard itself.

Away from everything they knew.

Some part of his mind knew, even then, that this was no permanent escape. Fate would pull them back, someday. He had children on Asgard - not many, but it was just possible some might grow to become alphas, and might even inherit his inability to pack bond. Some alphas already there might be intrigued by the possibility of a mating bond. And Thor. Thor would never truly be able to forget Asgard, or even stop thinking of it as home. He knew they would be back. Someday.

He pushed the thought away. The norns may have put them together for a reason, but if so, it was up to the norns to drag them back to their escaped prison. Loki had no interest in it.

And at the moment, Thor certainly wasn’t thinking about it.

“Loki…” His voice was breathless, and as soon as Loki stepped away from the controls, Thor was pressing up against him. He was already pulling his clothes off. “Mate…”

He was beautiful. Beautiful and perfect and far, far more worthy than their father could ever have understood. Loki pulled him into a kiss, finally able to truly, thoroughly enjoy it, and shuddered with pleasure at Thor’s soft moan of need.

He didn’t bother guiding Thor toward a bed. They wouldn’t make it. He drank him in. Brother, prince, omega, mate, his-

As Thor collapsed to the floor, unable to care about staying upright, Loki followed him down, thrumming with happiness, and voiced the one label that mattered more than any of the others.

“My love…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END!
> 
> Dear god, what’s it going to be like to NOT be writing this fic?
> 
> This spiraled so far out of my control! A quick little fic about Thor being in denial about being omega turned into this monstrosity! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> ———
> 
> Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> I’m on Twitter: [@FiveStillAlive1](https://twitter.com/FiveStillAlive1)
> 
> and occasionally on Tumblr: [RunnerFiveStillAlive](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive)


End file.
